Farming venture finds time for Christmas trees

IF IT'S Christmas it must be Christmas trees. Farmer Rhodri Davies believes in producing for the market place.

In this case it's buying in trees from Rhayader, Hereford and sometimes Denmark and selling them from a marquee at Down's filling station on the outskirts of Cardiff.

He specialises in the larger type of tree from good quality, low needle drop varieties rather than try to compete with the larger retailers who have already covered the cheaper end of the market.

"It's a new venture and so far so good – in fact we're expanding," said Rhodri.

The term "new venture" and the word "expanding" have been heard a lot around the Davies family home at Rosedew, Llantwit Major, where Rhodri lives with his wife Gaynor and their son, 13-year-old Dafi Sion, and daughters Delana, 9 and Megan, 7.

When he and Gaynor bought the 320-acre arable holding in 1995 it did not even boast a house.

They lived in a caravan for six months, then bought a house in the village and started building a custom-designed farmhouse.

It's now the centre of a thriving agricultural and civil contracting business, with a farming enterprise that extends over more than 2,500 acres, with 14 staff, a fleet of 14 tractors and a wide range of specialist machines, and a growing workforce.