Gail Swan is top women farmer
Gail Swan from Mold in Flintshire has today been crowned NFU Cymru / Natwest Wales Woman Farmer of the year at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair.
Now in its eighth year, the Award aims to celebrate the often forgotten contribution that women make to Welsh farming. Previous winners have gone on to hold key roles in the industry and win other awards.
On winning the award Gail, a finalist in last year's competition, said, "All three of us who were shortlisted for the Award are ambassadors for women in the industry and will continue to do the hard work we have always done. I never expected to win but I am delighted that I have."
Gail has set up a successful farm shop business at the family farm, Ffrith, at Treuddyn, Mold, which now retails everything produced on the farm plus products from local farms and employs seven local people.
As well as managing the farm shop Gail works on the 240 acre farm growing crops and tending to the animals. As she says, "There aren't many shops like ours where if we run out of vegetables we can say to the customer that we will go out and pick some more for them."
A mother of two, Gail is also actively involved in the local community and has just finished training to become a Dynamo Role Model with the WDA which will mean she will visit schools in the new year to explain to the children what she does as a farmer.
The two runners-up are: Dawn Lewis and Mary Davies.
Dawn Lewis, of Clerkenhill Adventure Farm, Haverfordwest, takes complete responsibility of all farm office and paper work as well as helping with the milking in the morning and evening when needed. Clerkenhill Adventure Farm is open to the public and Dawn completely runs the business from the reception to cleaning the toilets as well as looking after her four daughters.
Mary Davies, from Caeremlyn Farm, Whitland is involved in the running of the family's 700 acre, all grass dairy farm. She started a turkey enterprise with just 50 turkeys and today grows, processes and distributes 2,600 Christmas turkeys country-wide and has won the 'Tastiest Turkey in Britain' Award. Mary is a dedicated supporter of Leukaemia Research and has raised £21,650 this year through various activities.
"Once again it was very difficult to choose a winner for this year's Award as the shortlisted finalists were of a very high standard," admits Natwest's Regional Agricultural Manager Martin Doyle, the competition's sponsor. "But they all have one thing in common - complete commitment to their farms and to the industry as a whole."
NFU Cymru Deputy President Dai Davies agrees. "The old saying is behind every great man there is a great woman, well I would say behind every great farm business there is a great woman. It really is astounding how these women manage to fit so much into their lives, they really are the backbone of Welsh family farming."
The winner received £500 and a crystal rose bowl, while the two runners up received £100. The judges looked for women who demonstrated the part they play in making the farm a successful economic unit; their contribution to improving the role of women in farming and their involvement in local community life and other organisations.
