Welsh dairy farmer honoured
A West Wales dairy farmer who has improved and promoted the dairy Shorthorn cow as the key to a sustainable and successful farming future, has been made an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies. Seimon Thomas’s main dairy enterprise on 650 acre Drysgolgoch Farm, Llwyndrain, Llanfyrnach, Pembrokeshire, is a herd of 300 dairy Shorthorn cows managed on a system based on maximising milk from forage.
The farm, now converted to organic production, has been in the Thomas family for three centuries and with the renowned grass-growing capacity of the area it is possible for the cattle by utilising some of the New Zealand principles of paddock grazing, to graze for 10 months of the year. Recently, two Australian Illawarra Shorthorn bulls have been used in the herd, a breed used originally by Mr Thomas’s father 40 years ago.
A successful exhibitor in the show ring, Mr Thomas is in demand as a judge and had the honour of judging the famous Burke Trophy competition at the inaugural National All Breeds Show. He is a member of the council of the Shorthorn Society of Great Britain and Ireland and of the Royal Welsh County Advisory Committee for Pembrokeshire.
Outside farming Mr Thomas is well-known as a rugby player and played for Newcastle Emlyn RFC for 20 years. Since retiring from the game he is now a coach for the junior squad at Crymych Rugby Club having passed Levels One and Two of the National Coaching Course.
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