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It’s a family affair at Groesasgwrn, Dafydd Edwards, Nerys Edwards and Roy Edwards are busy harvesting swedes[/caption]
Diversification is not something that suits every farm business but the Edwards family of Groesasgwrn, Llangynderyn, near Carmarthen certainly know how to put the talent and skills in the family to good use.
Roy and Nerys Edwards and their four sons Dafydd, 15, Sion 11 and twins Owain and Rhydian, 8, have been dairy farming on the 300 acre holding in the Carmarthenshire countryside for 10 years.
Roy, who won Fferm Factor in 2014, runs the 350 head dairy cow herd full time and Nerys’ time is split between being actively involved in the running of the home farm, keeping a successful occasion cake business ‘Cacennau Moethus’ going, as well as working for the Farmers’ Union of Wales part time in the Carmarthen office. The family also grow and sell swedes for a short period each year.
Roys parents, Emyr and Margaret moved to Groesasgwrn in 1970 and in 1999 purchased an extra holding -Ty’r Stewart- a short 5 minute drive down the road.
Ty’r Stewart at the time of purchase was in need of investment and the family had to update everything including reseeding, fencing and hedge laying. Nerys and Roy first lived at Ty’r Stewart after getting married 16 years ago and six years later in 2006 swapped farms with Roy’s parents to take the dairy holding at Groesasgwrn over full time.
The family faced some tough challenges over the years, with the price of milk being the biggest obstacle. With their milk cheque cut in half the couple had to make a decision - giving up wasn’t an option, so they decided to modernise the milking unit as a whole.
Having borrowed money to buy more land and deciding to expand the herd, with milk price predictions at the time being favourable it was not an easy ride. “We kept going - I don’t know how we coped with it, but family farms are very resilient. We were also fortunate to have a very supportive and understanding bank. Psychologically it was very tough,” Roy said.
“We cut down on everything, tightening our belts. And we have 4 boys, they are an inspiration for us to keep going. If you are 60 years old and no-one in succession then it would be far easier to give up. But we are both quite determined and not ones to give up. We cut down on a lot of things, we weren’t the type to overspend anyway. We hadn’t gone silly buying new machinery, just the money we borrowed expanding made things difficult financially,” Nerys adds.
Recalling the time as one of the most stressful times in her life, she said: “I remember the twins as babies in the pram when we were doing all of the work to upgrade the holding in 2008. It was a very stressful time - looking after four children and trying to keep the business going. Our biggest commitment until now has been to update the milking parlour and put a slatted shed in. We trebled the slurry storage, housing for cattle doubled and then we increased the herd by 100 %.”
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3 generations of Swede farmers - Dafydd Edwards, Emyr Edwards and Roy Edwards[/caption]
To move the modernisation of the holding forward Nerys and Roy had invested heavily, and with Roy’s parents being supportive, the couple consider themselves fortunate. “We’ve been quite lucky because Roy’s parents are forward thinking anyway, and they wanted us to carry on and make a success of the farm. They gave us a great opportunity,” said Nerys.
“The milking parlour is the backbone of the farm and was the most important thing. Once we had that right everything else fell into place. Some people do it the other way round - increase the herd and then upgrade. But then you have cows standing for hours waiting to be milked. And people get stressed out in the parlour for 3 - 4 hours at a time,” Roy remembers.
The enthusiasm of the family for farming and making a success of their business however knows no bounds. Determined to not let their drop in revenue stand in their way, the family resurrected an old family tradition and started growing swedes.
It all started with Roy’s grandfather who grew swedes for decades. “Growing crops goes back generations in our family. I enjoy turning a field that isn’t fulfilling its full potential into something productive. It is a challenge and I love it, not to mention that it’s rewarding when you get it right!” Roy said.
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Dafydd and Sion help out with the swede harvest[/caption]
His father has also been growing swedes, initially for the ewes as fodder in February and March when there is no grass around. Today the Edwards family grow 6 acres of swedes and sell them all over Carmarthen. The field is never sprayed, the swedes are a catch crop before the field is reseeded again in the spring with grass. The swedes are a culinary variety that are then hand picked, hand washed and netted. As they are picked to order they are only ever a day or two old and as fresh as you can get them!
“We are a family farm - Roy’s father comes out to pick swedes with us and the children are there as well. We think along the lines of adding value to what we produce. You do need to think outside the box and try new things,” said Nerys.
“First only a few swedes got picked for the house and we gave the neighbours a few. And so it spread, people were saying they are the best swedes they have ever tasted. We pick them in the morning and then they are delivered in the afternoon,” Roy says. The whole family is involved in the process but the children take centre stage when it comes to selling them.
“It is a little bit of extra pocket money for the children. We were asked why we don’t have a stall at the Christmas fair at the children’s primary school in Llangunnor. So we took up the offer and they were just selling flat out. We didn’t grow any last year because of the weather. Now if we don’t grow them people are asking have you got any? There is a bit of excitement around them especially in December. It’s a part of Christmas,” adds Nerys.
In addition to Christmas fairs and selling them to locals, a list of local pubs have also joined the list of customers and the swedes sell in a 25 miles radius from the farm.
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8 year old twins Owain and Rhydian Edwards get busy with harvesting[/caption]
“We deliver them or people collect them from the farm. Quite often I take them to school when I pick up the kids. We haven’t pushed it enough so far - we could push it a lot further to sell them. Hopefully we can start selling them to wholesalers in Carmarthen next year. There is much room for improvement.
“Everywhere the boys have gone with them they have sold out and then got more orders. The week before Christmas we will have a lot of picking to do. We want to leave it as close as possible to pick them before delivery so they stay nice and fresh. Hopefully we won’t have any bad frost - that will make picking them a lot easier,” added Nerys.
The swedes however are never sold after the New Year and are a real seasonal product. With only about 5 percent of the crop being picked, the rest of the crop is used for fattening the store lambs in January and February.
But it is not just milk, kids and swedes that occupy Nerys’ time. In between milking, paperwork and the school run, she also keeps a successful and steadily growing occasion cake business going.
From humble beginnings six years ago, making a few birthday cakes for friends and family, and with an artistic flair and love of baking, Nerys has steady orders for her cakes throughout the year. She has now established herself as a Wedding cake business. Her customers are mainly based around Carmarthen and Llandeilo but also recently have expanded to Aberystwyth, Wolfscastle, Cardiff and the Gower.
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A wedding cake designed and made by Nerys[/caption]
“All of the cakes are made here at home, which suits me well. I can be here baking until late at night and start early in the morning. It also means I can stay here on the farm with the children.If you have good feedback from people it really is a motivation. And it gives you confidence to get more committed. I remember thinking shall I do a few Christmas cakes and see how it goes. I used Facebook and took photos and all of a sudden people asked to buy my cakes. I then went to a few Christmas fairs and just put myself out there. It appears that people like them, and my customers have been very supportive,” Nerys says.
Using local ingredients where possible and only using the best quality ingredients such as jams, has even won Nerys a few prizes at shows. Husband Roy is a big fan of the cakes saying: “We make sure we get to taste at least a few of them. When Nerys makes her own jam to go in the cakes they are even better!”
The cakes made at ‘Cacennau Moethus’ range from fruit cakes and sponges in all different flavours with vanilla being the most popular. Only recently Nerys made a 6 tier wedding cake which consisted of a layer of luxury rich fruit cake, white chocolate and raspberry, strawberry & champagne, banoffee, lemon and gluten free lemon.
“All of these sponge cake tiers had to be baked no more than 3 days before the wedding and then I went on to the icing and decorating. I’ve been so lucky to be asked to make these amazing wedding cakes and take them to some fantastic venues.
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The design follows an in-depth consultation process[/caption]
“When you stand back and look at the finished product you think ’Yes! I’ve done it’ and if you get good comments afterwards it’s just fantastic,” said Nerys.
All the decorations are of course handmade, including the iced flowers. Every design is bespoke and follows a detailed consultation process. For wedding cakes, brides and grooms are invited to the farm to talk about the design and of course the tasting of the cake is popular with grooms to be.
“I have a list of questions for wedding couples such as who the photographer is, what the flowers will look like, where the venue is, what colours and style they are going for such as vintage, elegant or classy. And of course a lot of the design also depends on the wedding dress.”
Following the consultation process Nerys then draws 3 or 4 different cake designs for customers to choose from. However, every cake she makes is utterly unique. “I never make the same cake twice - I refuse that. It’s got to be unique to the person,” she says.
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“I never make the same cake twice - I refuse that. It’s got to be unique to the person."[/caption]
When Nerys is not busy on the farm, she also works at the FUW’s Carmarthen offices as a part time County Executive Officer Assistant. She joined the FUW team in 2015, initially as an admin assistant during the busy SAF period and now works on Monday’s and Tuesday, helping members of the Union with their farming and policy queries.
One thing can be said with absolute certainty, Nerys and her family have determination and a passion to make a success of everything they do. So when you’re in Carmarthen the next time - drop in to the county office and have a chat about #FarmingMatters, Swedes and cakes with her!