With place names such as Felin Crewi, Porth y Felin and Y Felin Heli, Wales' farming forebears must have not only grown grain for food: they must have processed it in wind or water-powered mills.
Melin Llynnon, in the village of Llanddeusant, Anglesey, ground flour from local corn for some 150 years and only ceased milling in 1924.
It's now been restored to working order, as has the mill at Cochwillan, near Bangor. Once a fullers' mill, it was converted to grind flour and process animal feeds when the acids used in the dyeing industry were discovered to be decimating local fish stocks.
Meanwhile Carnguwch Farm, near Pwllheli, boasts three redundant water mills, once used to grind horse feed. One, dating back 1,000 years, is reputed to have been destroyed by a marauding Owain Glyndr.
As milling history revolves, so the history of farming has come full circle. Once more, organic farmers in North Wales are rediscovering the art of self sufficiency as they come to terms with the requirement to feed rations that are 100% organic.
And now that organic compound feed prices are exceeding £300/tonne, as they have since late autumn 2007, producers are increasingly looking to grow their own oats, barley, triticale and even wheat. Some are already doing so, confirming that cereals can be cultivated successfully in north west Wales.
A recent Organic Centre Wales workshop in Tafarn y Gors Bach, Llanddeiniolen, provided information on rotation planning, controlling weeds and diseases, and selecting cereal varieties which are suitable for organic farms in less favoured areas.
