A NEW co-operative formed between West Wales pig farmers and a meat supplier is allowing pork from herds born and reared within the region to be transported for processing just a short distance in a low-throughput abattoir – reducing stress on the animals, providing low food miles meat for consumers and improving producer margins.

The eight Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire-based farmers were brought together by the Farming Connect Agrisgôp initiative after the idea was discussed by Fishguard meat supplier and butcher Martyn Lloyd and Agrisgôp leader Lilwen Joynson.

Martyn had been a member of another Agrisgôp group where Lilwen had helped him to develop his idea for a new processing facility and later, at a Farming Connect mentoring meeting, the idea for the Red Dragon Porc Cyf co-operative was established.

Martyn and his wife, Danielle, had been unable to source low food miles pork for their customers.

“We could get beef and lamb and we have our own poultry but what we were missing was pork, we did our best to find Welsh pork for customers but that pork came with a lot of food miles and that doesn’t fit with our business ethos,’’ Martyn explains.

Developing an abattoir on their farm at Cilshafe presented a solution.

“We wanted to get some pork producers on board, to help them advance their businesses,’’ says Martyn.

“There are a lot of small pig producers in west Wales and many were struggling to work out how best to get their meat to the market but with an existing customer base we could help. We looked to Agrisgôp to help to bring that to life.’’

After the first Agrisgôp meeting, facilitated by Lilwen, the idea took shape.

Agrisgôp is a fully-funded management development programme that encourages eligible farmers to get together to not only develop their businesses, but to personally gain confidence and skills through action learning.

And this is what happened for the Red Dragon Porc Cyf members.

Farmers had been receiving inconsistent prices for their pigs when they marketed as individual businesses and their ability to supply a butcher directly was constrained as meeting supply volume requirements was tricky.

“The farmers shared a mission and were guided on putting their ideas into action,’’ Lilwen explains.

Building trust and confidence was crucial to the process of forming a cooperative.

“Collaboration and open sharing are definitely key,’’ says Lilwen.

“Differences of opinion and thinking had to be overcome and a set of rules and values adopted with individuals accepting that it had to work for the majority since they were no longer operating as individual businesses.’’

For some it even meant changing breeding patterns and breed type to accommodate market demands.

At the end of 2024, Red Dragon Porc Cyf had already marketed £43,000 worth of pork, including sausages which captured awards at last year’s Royal Welsh Winter Fair.

In April, the missing part of the local pork jigsaw slotted into position when the Lloyds started processing pork at their own Food Standards Agency-approved abattoir.

Until then, co-operative members including Will Kerr had to transport their pigs further to be processed.

“We didn’t have any control over prices, the margins were very small,’’ Will admits. “Martyn opening the abattoir in Fishguard has been the catalyst we needed.’’

Will has six Welsh pig breeding sows, which he runs alongside suckler beef and sheep enterprises at his family’s farm, Blaenawen, at Glanrhyd.

He had long been frustrated at the perception of pork being, in his words “the cheap cousin’’ of beef and lamb.

While it has become commonplace for butchers to display the full history of the beef and lamb they are selling, Will points out that this is rarely applied to pork because it is largely sourced wholesale or has been imported.

“We too are now in a position to tell the exciting story of our pork,’’ says Will, who farms with his parents, Mark and Kip.

He sees a major advantage in being part of a co-operative. “As a group we are more powerful, it gives us many advantages, we are already getting a better price for our pigs.

“Without Agrisgôp we would never have come together so we are grateful to Martyn for initiating it with Farming Connect and to Lilwen for pulling us all together.’’

Another member of the group, Ed Walker, also sees big value in collective marketing, that “strength in numbers’’.

“As eight producers we are on a par with commercial farmers as we can offer consistency of supply but we are still individual small producers too.’’

The businessman-turned-farmer produces around 600 pigs a year on an outdoor system at 46-acre Model Farm near Tenby.

His 22 breeding sows are a mixture of Large Whites crossed with a Welsh boar and Oxford Sandy and Blacks which he crosses to a Large White.

Keeping pigs started as hobby, alongside running his own civil engineering business, but it is now more or less a full-time job, with a part-time helper too.

Almost all his sales are through Red Dragon Porc Cyf although he is also licenced to sell meat from the farm as Tenby Woodland Pork.

Before the abattoir was established at Cilshafe, he would need to make a 150-mile round trip to the facility at Maesteg.

The next stage for the co-operative could be to establish a meat box scheme.

The throughput of pigs through the Lloyds’ abattoir, which also processes other livestock, will be small initially but that is projected to increase as sales gain momentum.

The facility has so far has created four full-time jobs and more could follow.

Picture caption:

Collaborating on pork marketing: Pictured from the left are Tom Young, Nic Caine, Martyn Lloyd, Ed Walker, Will Kerr and Lilwen Joynson

ROBOTS could help track biodiversity loss across the world’s land masses, according to a new study.

Already widely used for monitoring ocean ecosystems, the use of robotic and autonomous systems for observing biodiversity on-land has not previously been extensively researched.

Dr Fred Labrosse from Aberystwyth University’s Department of Computer Science is part of the first systematic attempt to evaluate the technology’s potential to look at changes in plant and animal life across the planet.

Experts from more than a hundred countries collaborated on the study, which explored how technology could help conservationists accurately track species’ population changes.

Specialists identified four main types of barriers to biodiversity monitoring: site access, species identification, handling and storing data, and power and connectivity.

Experts then identified technologies that could overcome those barriers and how they could work in extreme environments. They also identified several emerging technologies, such as novel sensors and biodegradable robots, which could help.

The study published today (22 May 2025) in Nature Ecology & Evolution, considered both the challenges and the opportunities of using robots for monitoring biodiversity. Key benefits include the ability to survey over large spatial scales, identify species in real-time, and handle high data volumes. Challenges that would need to be overcome include the need for high volumes of ‘training data’ for machine learning for species identification and power availability limitations.

The research concluded that automated and robotic technology would be a useful way to supplement, rather than replace, existing methods.

Dr Fred Labrosse, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at Aberystwyth University said:

“Our study highlighted the difference made by adopting an interdisciplinary approach. It provided an opportunity for robotics experts to understand the challenges of biodiversity monitoring, and for conservationists to learn about cutting-edge technology which could assist them. It was a real meeting of minds and showcased the importance of collaboration between biodiversity specialists and robotic scientists to pave the way for effective co-development of future technologies and innovations.”

The research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s UK-Robotics and Autonomous Systems Network.

A NEW scheme has been launched to help farmers and landowners across the National Park work together – improving habitats, protecting wildlife and building long-term landscape resilience.

Ffermio Bro, funded by the Welsh Government and running through to March 2028, forms part of a wider effort to strengthen collaborative land management across Wales’s Designated Landscapes.

Rooted in the farming community, the scheme brings people together to deliver meaningful environmental improvements – supporting nature-friendly practices and helping to create healthy, connected ecosystems across the Park.

Arwel Evans, Farm Conservation Liaison Officer at the Park Authority, said: “Pembrokeshire has a rich agricultural heritage that has shaped our landscape – from the milk and beef produced on lush pastures to our famous ‘Tato Newy’ (early potatoes). Farmers have been custodians of the land for generations, and through our new Ffermio Bro scheme, we hope to support them in building resilient enterprises while helping our declining wildlife thrive in the future.”

The scheme offers several ways for farmers and landowners to collaborate, depending on their location and shared priorities. Some projects will focus on thematic goals, with farms across the Park working toward common outcomes without needing to form formal clusters. Others may involve catchment-based collaboration, where farmers along the same river or stream coordinate efforts to improve water quality. There is also support for more locally based work, such as joint initiatives on common land or projects that help connect habitats across the landscape.

Applications for funding under £10,000 will be assessed by the Ffermio Bro team, while larger projects will go before a dedicated panel.

Ffermio Bro focuses on a number of interconnected priorities that support sustainable land management. These include improving fresh water management to protect rivers, streams and aquatic ecosystems; promoting regenerative farming techniques that build soil health and support long-term food production; and safeguarding shared grazing land through commons protection.

The scheme also supports the restoration of traditional boundaries, such as hedgerows and stone walls, which are a distinctive feature of the Pembrokeshire landscape. In addition, funding is available for projects that help conserve and enhance the Park’s wildlife through targeted species protection.

Arwel Evans added: “This is a farmer-led scheme, and we welcome all ideas for improving habitats and nurturing wildlife.”

Farmers and landowners within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park can now submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the first funding window, which closes on Monday 23 June 2025.

For more information or to start an application, contact the Ffermio Bro team at [email protected] or complete the Expression of Interest form online at www.pembrokeshirecoast.wales/ffermio-bro.