Event Details

Conference Program

DAY 1: Friday, June 14th


9.45am 

Opening address

  • Harry and Davina Fetherstonhaugh

Introduction

  • Rhys Williams


10.00am

Keeping Farm Families on the Land – Improving livestock farm business resilience

  • Siobhan Griffin – Next Level Grazing, New Zealand


10.40am

BREAK


11.00am

Enhancing our environment – Benchmarking our environmental impact

  • John Gilliland – Professor of Practice in Agriculture and Sustainability at Queens University, Belfast


11.30am

Managing change – Overcoming the challenges of developing and evolving farming businesses

  • Heather Wildman – Saviour Associates


12.00pm

Sustainable Livestock Farming. Thoughts from panellists followed by questions from the floor. Chaired by Rhys Williams 

  • Siobhan Griffin – Next Level Grazing, New Zealand 
  • Heather Wildman – Saviour Associates
  • John Gilliland – Professor of Practice in Agriculture and Sustainability at Queens University, Belfast
  • Alexander Brewster – Rotmell Farming, Perth, Scotland 


1.00pm

LUNCH


2.00pm

Field Workshop Round Robin

Participants split into four groups, each group given 15min at each station and 15min to casually walk from station to station


Station 1: Soil health assessment: Joel Williams – Integrated Soils


Station 2: Grazing infrastructure: James Daniel – Precision Grazing Ltd


Station 3: Multi species leys: Rhys Owen – Field Options


Station 4: Stockpiling and Bale Grazing: Rhys Williams – Coed Coch Farms Ltd


4.00pm

BREAK


4.15pm

The future of farming - Panel discussion followed by questions from the floor. Chaired by Rt. Hon. Amber Rudd. 


  • Patrick Holden - The Sustainable Food Trust
  • Gian Marco - Welsh Government
  • Llyr Gruffydd – Member of the Senedd
  • Howard Davies - Chair North Wales Wildlife Trust
  • Professor Wynne Jones - Chairman RWAS Board
  • Aled Jones – NFU Cymru President
  • Euryn Jones – Chair of Farming Connect Board


5.00pm

Closing comments

  • Alasdair MacLeod - Wilmot Cattle Co. And Keith Halstead - Royal Countryside Fund.


7.00pm

Music and entertainment


DAY 2: Saturday, June 15th


10.00am

The regenerative journey – Introduction to the farming operation at Coed Coch

  • Rhys Williams – Coed Coch Farms Ltd


10.30am

Farm walk – Discussion around the following topics

  • Farming Systems
  • Soil Health
  • Grazing Management
  • Grazing Infrastructure
  • Deferred Grazing
  • Bale Grazing
  • Livestock Genetics


Contributors:

  • Dafydd Owen – Coed Coch Farms Ltd
  • Siobhan Griffin – Next Level Grazing, New Zealand
  • Alexander Brewster – Rotmell Farming, Perth, Scotland 
  • Joel Williams – Integrated Soils

Da Byw 2023

Video length: 32.10min

Da Byw 2022

Video length: 20 min

Da Byw is to be held in conjunction with the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society here at Coed Coch, home to the Fetherstonhaugh family.

Coed Coch is at the heart of agricultural North Wales and is farmed in partnership with Rhys Williams, Harry and now Dafydd Owen, who has replaced Emyr Jones, Emyr having branched out and started his own farming business this year. This business was formed 6 years ago, when the partnership introduced a whole new flock of sheep to the farm. A flock of New Zealand bred Romneys. We now breed our own version and call them Hauora Romneys.


We started out following a New Zealand based model and are now moving towards fully Regenerative methods and soon to introduce cattle to our rotation. Our bank balance is unrecognisable. 


This has encouraged us to find out more about these farming practices. Take them a step further and really find out how best to help the environment, produce good food and turn a profit. 

Then we thought that through the RWAS we could share what we have learnt so far, find out what others are doing, then using all this to put a case to the Government to help us make a better world for EVERYONE. 


So, please come and enjoy the day. The speakers are joining us from all over. There will be some great locally produced food for lunch and some enlightening conversation. Finally to end the day, after the talking is over we have some great music brought to you from the fabulous band - THE FELL and the unique Farmer of Funk. 


All this to be washed down with the very best local ales and spirits and some more delicious local street food.


Questions

We hope to answer some of the questions you have about how to get started down the regen road. How to use the sun, the soil, your grass and indeed your animals to your best advantage. Work with nature. The sun and the soil are free after all. If you can make them work in your favour. Not only can they maximise your profits but in doing so they will benefit the environment. Healthier soil, better grass, healthier animals. Better grass more photosynthesis. More photosynthesis, more carbon captured. More carbon was captured. Less climate change. It’s a win, win, it just needs some planning, some courage and some initial funding. 

Food

We are excited to welcome to Da Byw an incredible, local, culinary talent. Namely Bryn Williams of the iconic Odettes in London. Born and bred in Denbigh, Bryn is known to be one of the finest chefs in Europe. He is involved in restaurants all over, from Colwyn Bay to Switzerland, but he is a Welsh boy at heart. Bryn is going to advise on delicious local fayre for lunch. This lunch, thanks to Bryn and our sponsors, Rathbones, is included in the ticket price. Where possible, everything you are going to eat is either grown or reared within a 10-mile radius and either fed only on grass or grown without pesticides or herbicides. 

Entertainment

To round off the day we bring you two music delights. The first is the London-based collective The Fell. The band was formed in 2021 with a singular aim: to bring bluegrass punk to North Wales. They are perhaps the only group in the UK that would draw crowds at both The Windmill in Brixton and The Sidmouth Folk Festival. A genre-bending covers band, they have drunk deep from the fountain of British music, with a healthy gulp of Americana to boot. This is their debut gig with the current lineup. 
We also have the unique and fabulous Farmer of Funk to spin some discs and keep you alive. The Farmer was born and bred on a hill farm in Cumbria but has DJed all over the country, playing his varied and fabulous collection of vinyl to the delight of discerning music lovers from the West coast of Scotland to Cornwall

Fully stocked bar with local ales and spirits

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