Maenhir

Follow Maenhir if you are interested in

• Running a profitable business from a traditional family farm
• Improving your carbon footprint
• Reducing lameness within the herd
• Improving cow health and welfare

Overview

A traditional family farm, Maenhir sits on the Carmarthenshire/Pembrokeshire border and is owned and operated by the Twose family. Today the farm is largely managed by brothers, Richard and Joe, although their parents, Joseph and Rosemary, as well as Richard’s son, Iwan, and Joe’s son, Joseph, are also actively involved.

Our farm

Bought by the Twoes family in 1975, Maenhir originally consisted of just 120 acres. Today the farm has expanded to 600 acres, with a further 100 rented, which supports their herd of pedigree Holsteins and a number of smaller enterprises run by the family.

Our herd

The milking herd is made up of 400 head of pedigree Holsteins with an additional 200–250 followers. There are also a small number of Shorthorn and Jersey cows. Maenhir operates an all-year-round calving herd, with an autumn weighting. The herd are achieving an average yield of over 9,000 litres, with 3.39% protein and 4.12% butter fat. Sexed semen is used for all replacements with the rest of the herd put to beef. They have achieved excellent conception rates with their heifers and have an average age of first calving between 22–24 months.

The team at Maenhir also run 600 pedigree Lleyn sheep and almost 90 Hereford beef cattle as separate enterprises.

Our journey

Richard and Joe are ambitious for the business, balancing a continual wish to improve with the need to be profitable so that they can reinvest back into the farm. As part of the strategic dairy farm programme, they are keen to pinpoint weaknesses and inefficiencies within the business while identifying potential solutions. They are also focused on improving fertility, reducing their carbon footprint and cases of lameness in the herd.

News and past events

• Prevention of infectious diseases (February 2022) Richard and Joe Twose are joined by Dr James Breen, a veterinary consultant from Map of Ag, to discuss how the team at Maenhir can ensure that they are effectively managing their herd to reduce the impact of pathogens and parasites (YouTube, 1 hour 47 minutes)
• Strategic dairy farm overview: Maenhir (October 2021) Meet strategic dairy farm host, Richard Twose of Maenhir and find out more about this traditional family farm and what they will be focusing on over the next few years (YouTube, 6 minutes)

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