At 26, Pembrokeshire dairy farmer Harri Vaughan seems older than his years: a wise head on a young man’s shoulders.

He has a ‘glass half full’ approach to life and work. “I try not to dwell on the negatives, I love dairy farming and in my opinion if you love what you do you are half way there.

“We are all allowed to have a bad day now and then but if you enjoy what you do then I say ‘bring it on’.’’

Harri farms with his parents, Dylan and Bethan, and grandparents, Russell and Myfanwy Evans, at Parc y Wern and Henne Fawr, two neighbouring farms near Tufton.

Parc y Wern is his mother’s family farm and in 2012 Bethan, who has her own accountancy firm, and Dylan went into partnership with her parents.

At the time they were milking 90 cows, the pedigree Parc y Wern herd.

Cow numbers quickly scaled up to 150, then 220 the following year, with Harri taking a major role in driving that change.

“I always loved dairy farming, I am told that when I was nine months old I was out feeding the calves with Nan. There was never a question in my mind about whether I would farm, it was a case of when,’’ says Harri, the winner of the 2023 NFU Cymru/NFU Mutual Dairy Stockperson of the Year Award.

At 16 he left Ysgol y Preseli to take a three-year Extended Level Three Diploma in Agriculture, gaining not only from what he learned on the course but from those who were studying with him.

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“The course was very good but it was a big asset to be with people from farms who were all doing things differently, a broad spectrum of people all sharing ideas.’’

Three years later and Harri returned to the farm, hitting the ground running, pushing cows numbers up to 280 and taking on tenanted land to extend the acreage.

The business had been renting land on 217-acre Henne Fawr and, when it came on the market, they bought the farm for running their youngstock and dry cows.

Around 700 acres is now farmed, with 370 acres owned and the rest rented on Farm Business Tenancy agreements and summer lets.

The last three years have been busy and expensive ones, not only purchasing the farm in April 2023 but making several improvements to the milking and housing facilities for the fully-housed herd.

The herringbone parlour at Parc y Wern was doubled in size to a 48/48. “Milking was taking a long time because we had the same facilities that were in place when we were milking less than half as many cows,’’ says Harri.

“We had to bite the bullet and do it.’’

Investment in housing has enhanced cow comfort and welfare, including constructing a new shed with cubicle places and deep sand bedding.

Genetics have helped to achieve a profitable herd.

“We are very much into genetic gain and genomic testing – my grandfather has a good eye for breeding but now we have technology that can help us push forward further,’’ says Harri.

The herd is on track to yield an average of 10,500 litres this year, with milk sold to Muller.

Although dairy cows are the principal enterprise, the family has some breeding ewes too.

Harri and his wife, Hannah, have pedigree Dutch Spotted sheep and Texels and his parents a flock of pedigree Lleyns.

Embryos are flushed and implanted into recipients and the ram lambs sold at breed sales in the autumn.

Harri and Hannah, whose family also have a dairy farm in Pembrokeshire, have a 16-month-old son, Angus.

“He absolutely loves the farm, his first words were ‘moo’, ‘baa’ and ‘tractor’,’’ says Harri.

At the other end of the age spectrum, at 76 Russell and Myfanwy are still active on the farm and in charge of feeding the calves.

“They have been a tremendous support to me, from the moment I came home to farm and before that, even with some of my crazy ideas, they have never batted an eyelid,’’ says Harri.

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CAPTIONS

Harri won the NFU Cymru/NFU Mutual Dairy Stockperson of the Year Award in 2023. Picture: Debbie James

Genetics help to achieve a profitable herd. Picture: Debbie James