27/08/2026
🐂 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 – 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐓 𝐆𝐖𝐘𝐍𝐅𝐀𝐄𝐒 🐂
Set in North Wales, 𝐆𝐰𝐲𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐦 spans a diverse range of ground, from land just two miles from the coast to hill grazing reaching 1,300ft. It’s a system that demands cattle that are hardy, functional and able to perform whatever the conditions.
We recently caught up with 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐈𝐨𝐥𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐬 to hear more about their system and why Charolais bulls have remained at the heart of the herd for generations.
The family have used Charolais since the 1970s, crossing them predominantly over their Stabiliser cow herd – a breed they have kept since the first Stabiliser embryos arrived in the UK in the 1990s.
Today, they run around 135 cows and numbers are growing, with 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 working alongside a Stabiliser bull.
Their breeding philosophy is simple: combine the low-maintenance, functional Stabiliser female with the 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐬.
With the farm spread over a large area, easy-care cattle are essential. Spring calving begins around 20th March over a tight nine-week period, while a proportion of the herd now calves outside from August, allowing the family to make better use of the hill grazing.
Easy calving is therefore high on the priority list when selecting Charolais bulls. The family study EBVs, birth weight, pedigree and terminal traits alongside type, looking for a genuine all-rounder that can deliver performance without compromising calving ease.
One bull who has certainly delivered is 𝐂𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨, now seven years old and still a favourite for the family.
A huge, powerful bull, Pedro is deliberately matched to some of the smaller cows to add size and produce the type of calf the family wants – another example of how carefully bulls and females are matched across the herd.
When buying bulls, they prefer to purchase them young at around 14–15 months, grow them on at home and initially introduce them to around 15 cows.
The results speak for themselves at sale time. Spring-born calves are weaned in October, wintered on silage and wholecrop with around 2kg of blend from NWF Agriculture, before being sold the following March and April through Brincir and Gaerwen on Anglesey.
There is strong demand for the Charolais-cross calves, with their heifers regularly returning to the same buyer year after year – perhaps one of the best endorsements of the consistency they are producing.
Replacement breeding remains firmly controlled within the herd, with all heifers and around 10–12 of the best first-calvers put to Stabiliser bulls. The family have also made extensive use of sexed semen in the past to build replacement numbers.
From the mountain grazing to the sale ring, Gwynfaes Farm is a great example of two breeds complementing one another – Stabiliser maternal efficiency combined with 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡, 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 👑🐂
