SUCCESS FOR CEREDIGION YOUNG FARMER IN PIG FINISHING INITIATIVE 2021

Today at the Royal Welsh winter Fair Eiry Gwenllian Williams, Ceredigion young farmer has been announced the winner of the Menter Moch Cymru and Wales YFC Pig Finishing Initiative 2021.

Eiry who is a member of Llangwyryfon YFC won the title with the result announced as part of the Winter Fair events held on Tuesday morning, November the 30^th.

The competition is an annual joint venture between Menter Moch Cymru and Wales YFC and aims to encourage the next generation of pig keepers and to get farmers thinking about pigs as a viable diversification option. During the four years the initiative has been running, many new and successful businesses and pig herds have been established.

The Menter Moch Cymru is funded by the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.

The six finalists in this year’s competition are Dylan Phillips from Bwlch y Rhandir, Llangwyryfon, Eiry Williams of Ty Newydd Langwyryfon, Luned Jones of Llanwnnen, Llanllwni, Elliw Roberts of Holyhead on Anglesey, Sally Griffiths of Presteigne, Radnor and Laura Evans of Gwynfa, Llangwyryfon

In early September, each finalist was given five, eight-week-old Welsh weaners to rear. These were weighed every fortnight to record their growth rate and their feed intake was also recorded. The finalists also entered into a bespoke training programme to help them with their venture.

The final challenge of this year’s competition was held today when all six competitors showcased their pigs in live showing classes at the Royal Welsh Winter fair.

Eiry was thrilled to be the overall winner of the competition: “I never thought that I would win the competition. It has been a fantastic experience and I have enjoyed every second of it. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Menter Moch Cymru and YFC Wales for giving us the opportunity to start keeping pigs. My intention is to carry on keeping pigs in the future. The experience has been fun and educational.”

As part of the competition the judges Glyn Davies and Ela Roberts hailed Luned Jones as winner of the Menter Moch Cymru & Wales YFC singles class, and Eiry Williams as winner of the pairs class.

Ela Roberts said that the competition once again this year was very successful: “All the competitors have made a great effort with the pigs. Its great to be able to see the pigs and touch them this year. It has certainly been an eye opener and a great experience for the young contestants.”

Melanie Cargill, Project Manager of Menter Moch Cymru congratulated all the six finalists of the competition and said that they all had been successful with their pig rearing skills.

“I would like to congratulate Eiry on her success and being crowned the overall winner of the competition. It has been a great competition once again this year. This is the fourth year we’ve ran this initiative in collaboration with Wales YFC, and would like to congratulate all the competitors on their success in their new found venture. I would like to wish them all the very best of luck.”

Wales YFC’s, rural affairs chairman William Jones said, “We’d like to congratulate all the finalists, and especially Eiry on a fantastic achievement. We are extremely grateful to Menter Moch Cymru for providing our members with such a fantastic opportunity to learn valuable skills. And we look forward working with Menter Moch Cymru again next year to promote pig keeping as a future enterprise to our members.”