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‘It’s about community, culture and language’: Welsh family farmers dig in 
for their future
Level 2: 
Intermediate
Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2022.
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Steven Morris
29 December, 2021
John Davies’s family has farmed in the hills and 
valleys of mid-Wales since the 19th century 
and he now works shoulder to shoulder with 
his 91-year-old father, Elwyn, and 20-year-old 
son, Brychan.
“There’s a good balance,” says Davies. “Dad 
has seen it all, done it all. Brychan brings in 
new ideas from college. It’s good to see that 
blend of experience and ambition.”
“Family farming businesses are incredibly 
important in Wales. We‘ve lived in these hills 
for six generations and we’d like to carry 
on for another six. It’s about community, 
culture and language. It’s about building for 
each generation.”
But that building will not be straightforward. The 
future of the Welsh family farm appears to hang 
in the balance. Trade deals with countries such 
as New Zealand and Australia make sheep and 
beef farmers worry that they will not be able to 
compete with cheaper imports.
Other pressures include the corporations 
buying up farmland to plant trees to offset their 
carbon emissions. “We do need to plant trees, 
but we need to make sure we do not lose farms 
to greenwashing operations,” said Davies.
Farmers are also under pressure from 
environmental campaigners, who would 
prefer re-wilding schemes to take the place of 
traditional sheep and cattle farms. “We have to 
get away from the idea that cows and sheep 
are bad and woodland is good,” says Davies.
People in Davies’s village, Merthyr Cynog, 
know that farming life can be difficult. The 
village lies beneath Mount Epynt, once a 
vibrant farming community that was cleared 
in 1940 to make way for a military training 
ground. The 219 inhabitants of the 54 farms 
had just three months to pack up and leave. 
Livelihoods, a way of life and, to a large extent, 
the Welsh language were destroyed.
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Conscious that farms across Wales are under 
threat, the UK government has launched an 
inquiry into their future, examining not just the 
economic aspects but the damage the loss of 
every farm does to the local community.
Its members heard that while, according to 
the last census, about 19% of people in Wales 
speak Welsh, more than 40% of workers in the 
farming industry speak the language. Welsh 
farming areas are often the places where the 
language is strongest.
While Elwyn speaks Welsh, John does not, 
mainly as a result of the clearance. The revival 
of the language in schools now means that 
Brychan does speak Welsh.
“For the language to prosper, farming is key,” 
said John. “When we’re at the market in 
Dolgellau, Welsh is the main language. You get 
a better deal if you can haggle in Welsh.”
Davies is proud of the work his farm does 
to improve the environment, from planting 
trees on steep ground that cannot be used for 
growing crops to creating new wetlands.
“As an industry, we have a clear ambition to be 
net zero by 2040 and provide the most climate-
friendly food in the world,” he said. He remains 
hopeful. “We’ll have to adapt and deliver what 
is wanted but we have a great climate to grow 
food, a fantastic climate. And if we’re in a 
corner, we’ll fight.”
Yet another problem for Welsh farming is 
demographics. The average age of a farmer 
in Wales is 60 and only 3% are under 35. 
That makes the attitude of people like John 
so crucial.
Like his father, young Brychan is optimistic. 
“People are always going to need food and the 
issue of food miles is a big one. I don’t think 
we’ll going anywhere anytime soon.”
© Guardian News and Media 2021 
First published in The Guardian, 29/12/2021
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