Tŷ Llaeth

13/10/2026

Girls are loving the gorgeous evening sun!!
We are on countdown till they sleep in overnight and then winter housing. It really depends on the weather and how much trampling the fields can take. We will aim for the first week of November but are preparing for sooner. However we've turned them back out late November in the past if we get a dry week.

02/10/2026

Happy Friday!! Someone was a little shocked to meet her little heifer.

02/10/2026

She's probably breaching Yellowstone copyright!!!!
Over the years we've had a number of cows with letter markings but the letter Y has been the most popular.
Looking forward to seeing this heifer join the milking girls soon.

29/09/2026

It's been a long day!
Relieved to have received no non-compliance during our red tractor inspection.
Normality will return to the farm and the kids will hopefully see a less stressed mam and dad.
For many farmers the assurance certification is an option to promote high standards but it's compulsory for the majority of contracted dairy farms.
Many of my past pupils and colleagues ask if it compares to a school inspection and I would say equally as stressful but with the addition of immediate consequences if standards are not met.
We are lucky that we have each other to read through the endless policies and mountain of standards and welcome the review that is happening so that hopefully future inspections will be a little easier.

24/09/2026

Apologies, we are running behind on milk pasteurising this morning.
A fresh batch will be ready by 12 pm.
Please delay your visit if possible.
Many thanks for the continued support.
Diolch!

17/09/2026

The fields are back to green!!
Although the rain has been welcomed and the field are looking a lot greener it's unfortunately too late in the season to feed the cows grass only.
In a normal summer we take the cows through from April till late October with little additional forage input other than grass.
This year has been testing, although the cows spent 24/7 outside we had to turn to our winter feed store to supplement their diet as the grass just stopped growing. Probably feeding silage to compensate for nearly 50% of intake.
We probably have another 6 weeks of grazing but the quality of the Autumn grass is not good enough to sustain the girls so we continue to give additional feed. Once you start giving them extra it's difficult to then back track.
A rough estimate would be that we have already fed 2-3 months worth of our winter stock, therefore we hope to have 1 more harvest to attempt to make up for what has been eaten.

07/09/2026

The breeding ewes are unimpressed to receive their blue tongue vaccination.
If 2026 hadn't brought enough challenges for farmers.
We've seen the South West of England suffer greatly from blue tongue with many farmers recording cattle and sheep health issues and deaths relating to blue tongue.
Europe had similar outbreaks in 2025.
The number of outbreaks in Wales is rising however obtaining the vaccination has not been easy, with the most effected areas having priority.
Cows have to receive 2 doses of vaccination, 3 weeks apart but sheep have 1 dose. We have therefore vaccinated the sheep in small batches to utilise the full bottles of vaccination . Having received the full dose of vaccination the cows and sheep are covered for 12 months and will need a booster next year.

31/08/2026

When you've won as parents even before the calves have entered the ring.
The kids have spent the last few weeks working on a calf each to take to Pontarddulais show.
We don't breed show type holsteins so winning any breed classes was never on the agenda but we did have our own goals.
As long as the calves and children did their best we could ask for nothing more and that is what we achieved.
Mali and Talyfan Beethhoven Jan won their young handler class and then Mali received reserve champion young handler.
The dairy classes were very well supported with numbers and quality to rival any county show.
The highlight must be the number of youngsters participating which is a great sign for the future.

26/08/2026

What better way to end the summer holidays than a day at the local show.
Something for everyone.

Show? What show?

Oh, you mean this one!!!!

21/08/2026

One glass of milk a day can naturally supply 20% of the recommend daily intake of Vitamin A.