It’s ‘Sunny side up’ for Montgomeryshire farmers

Does it get any better than starting your day with a fresh farm egg? Not according to Montgomeryshire Farmers’ Union of Wales members Mark and Helen Williams, who kick-started the FUW’s Farmhouse breakfast week in the county.

The couple farm 40 suckler cows and 900 ewes at Pen Y Derw, near Welshpool, and diversified into egg production last year as a way to Brexit-proof their business.

This was their second time round of hosting a breakfast as part of the FUW’s campaign and serving up the eggs in the morning, Helen Williams said: “No matter how you like your eggs - sunny side up, poached, or boiled - they are a very good source of high quality protein and they are rich sources of selenium, vitamin D, B6, B12 and minerals such as zinc, iron and copper.

“Eggs are also regarded as a 'complete' source of protein’ as they contain all nine essential amino acids (the ones we cannot produce in our bodies and must obtain from our diet). So why wouldn’t you start your day the eggy-way?”

Talking about the egg production process Mark Williams said: “The hens lay their eggs in nest boxes. Then the eggs roll onto the egg belts, which take them onto a cross conveyor and into the packing room.  

“Here they are graded by hand, go through the machine to be stamped and put in trays. Then they go along a belt into a tray stacker, which stacks trays in sixes. Once we have a run of six stacks we put them on a pallet, which is a total of 720 dozen eggs. This is then wrapped and labeled and left in the cool room for collection.

“It’s a process we really enjoy and the hens are really happy, which I hope everyone can taste in eggs served here this morning. We really enjoyed having everyone here for breakfast and I would like to take the opportunity to thank Lloyds Animal Feed and L J Fairburns & Son for their continued support.”

FUW Montgomeryshire CEO Emyr Wyn Davies said: “I would like to thank the Williams family for having us back for breakfast. It was absolutely delicious! This breakfast campaign provides an opportunity to promote the quality premium local produce that farmers, like Mark and Helen, grow for us every day of the year.

“There really is also no better place for bonding people together and sharing ideas than over good food and that’s exactly what we have done here this morning with Helen and Mark.

“A big thank you also to all those who supported the breakfast and helped us raise over £750 for charity. We will split the funds, with 50% going to the Royal Welsh Show as Montgomeryshire is this year’s feature county and the other half will go to the FUW charities Alzheimer’s Society Cymru and the Farming Community Network.”