Tom and his dad, David, have farmed their whole lives and having recently moved from our farm in Brackley, Northamptonshire to The Vale, the day-to-day farming reins have been handed down to Tom.

Tom enjoys all aspects of farming and is very interested in Regenerative Farming methods. Tom will happily talk to you about the farm and how we work, you can also follow the farming story on Facebook- Vale Farm Brecon or on Instagram @valefarm2023

Vale Farm is a 738 acre mixed farm situated on the edge of the Brecon Beacons. The farm has a stunning landscape of undulating hills, streams, woodland and its very own Trig point situated to the east of the farm. The Trig point sits on the remains of a Roman Fort and is protected from any excavation. Guests are welcome to walk up to the Trig point (if there aren’t any cows on there).

Here, at The Vale, we have a herd of 60 Simmental Cattle their calf’s and two bulls; in the winter months they are housed inside and calving usually starts in December, in the summer you can see them grazing happily in the fields. We have almost 1000 sheep on the farm of varying breeds including; Texel, Lleyn, Romney and a small flock of ‘naughty’ Jacob sheep. Guests can expect to see lambs in the fields during the spring. We currently lamb a group of sheep in January and our main lambing for 2025 will be outside in April.

We also have our working dogs on the farm; Ivy the Border Collie, Sky and Pippa the Kelpie x Collies and Max (who doesn’t enjoy working very much!), these dogs are very friendly but we ask that your dogs are kept on leads as these pups might be about working.

As well as our farm animals the farm is home to a wide range of wild animals too. You can often hear three different types of owls at night, see Red Kites and Buzzards, see and hear Woodpeckers at work, spot foxes and deer plus the rare wild black rabbits often seen in the woodland behind the cottages. The heron comes to visit the pond in front of the cottages each day and we have a nice group of wild ducks and geese about too. Depending on the time of year we see a large number of frogs and toads migrating to their breeding spots. We are very proud of amount of wildlife here and encourage all visitors to respect their space and environment.

The farm is an interesting and ever-changing environment. It is an important role to be custodians of this beautiful part of Wales and one we are pleased to share with our guests; however, we do kindly remind you that it is a fully working farm and farms can be dangerous places. Please ensure all children and dogs are safe and are not allowed to wander by themselves. We ask that guests ask permission before accessing the farm for any walks, access to sheds is prohibited at all times unless with a member of staff. Thank you for your understanding.

Photos of the farm will be updated regularly and are a mixture of photos taken by ourselves and guests, posted with permission.