As part of the closing session of Conference, NFU members shared their powerful stories about the realities of farming and how important resilience is to their everyday lives.
The session was chaired by NFU Deputy President David Exwood.
Dylan Jones – self-sufficiency
Dylan Jones is a partner and beef finisher at W T Jones & Son. Dylan is a nationally recognised Welsh beef farmer known for running a highly efficient, self-sufficient, low-carbon system that finishes 1,600 cattle each year.
His commitment to sustainable production, innovation and continual improvement has earned him accolades as Farmers Weekly Beef Farmer of the Year and the British Grassland Society’s Farmer of the Year in 2024.
Dylan farms 800 acres of loam on Anglesey and 10 tonnes of beef leave the farm each week. His journey to net zero began with a question about their environmental impact.
Within six weeks, he had made a plan and sold 1,000 sheep. He increased the acreage of peas and barley from 100 to 400 acres and the number of cattle from 700 to 1,600, but he does feel like he is farming manure.
“Self-sufficiency has been important to me, hitting my environmental goals and proving people wrong. My roots are in my soil, the acres beneath my feet. In recent years ploughing has become a dirty word but getting the material into the soil locking in moisture has got me closer to net zero.”
He said that red clover has been a saviour to him. “It’s the cheapest protein you can have and it’s rocket fuel for cattle and it will find moisture in the driest seasons.”
Rozanne Delamore – personal resilience
For Rozanne Delamore of The Ledbury Flower Farmer, the key was mindset.
A dairy farmer’s daughter, she set up shop later in life, after having children, the breakdown of her marriage and a return home to Herefordshire.
Hers was a personal resilience story that had added to the motivation behind a strong business.
“Dad was very keen for me to come into the dairy side of things, but I wanted to do something that was mine; to prove to myself I could do it and to prove a few others wrong,” she said. “I was 40 and I’d been a mum. I’d introduced myself as ‘hello I’m Will’s wife’. I’m now a Ledbury flower farmer, the business is going really well and that’s something to be proud of.
“For me, resilience is about how you react to something, finding that silver lining. I am ten times the person I thought I was and I didn’t know that. And it feels good.”
She said trust the farm’s wider ecosystem, rather than chemical interventions, had also been key for a business pitched as a sustainable artisan producer. And having several strings to the business bow has helped.
Rozanne specialises in growing seasonal, British flowers for florists across the region. But she also provides bespoke floristry for weddings, funerals and gift bouquets, a range of immersive experiences, including sustainable floristry workshops, guided flower-farm tours and pick-your-own flower sessions.
Will Raw – learning from your mistakes
For NFU Poultry Board Chair Will Raw, resilience in business is the ability to absorb shocks and have ways of working to maximise the business.
His family has farmed in Yorkshire for hundreds of years, but when a customer went bankrupt owing them £1 million, they questioned if it was the end.
Will said: “Once the receivers came in, we got £22,000 back and everyone wrote us off. We had to sit down and work out what made us money and whether we should continue farming.”
The farm now comprises 250 acres of combinable crops as well as broilers, supplying the independent poultry sector and growing for Frank Bird. The manure goes on the land, and the crops feed the birds and Will has invested heavily in solar panels and biomass boilers in attempts to achieve net zero.
He believes in partnerships but urges people not to rely on a handshake. Mill Poultry Ltd is now the R&D farm for artificial intelligence firm Pondus. The firm uses camera, weight and feed data to hone its system to deliver better welfare and productivity.
Will said: “It’s amazing, it’s changed my life, but people are frightened about what will happen to their data. Find someone you trust, it’s a great opportunity.”
Will said that as a businessman, the trials of his family have made him harder because no-one helped them when they were at rock bottom, but that experience has made him more empathetic when dealing with people in the same position in his role at the NFU.
He added that you learn more from your mistakes than your successes. “My dad has a phrase – you don’t learn anything at home.”
Bal Padda – family story
Strawberry and raspberry grower Bal Padda told how challenges around the weather, labour, inflationary spikes, Covid-19, rising costs and market disruption had meant that his Vicarage Nurseries team were always on the lookout for ways to boost resilience.
But his family’s story, from farming arable crops in the “breadbasket” of Punjab, India, two generations ago to producing 2,000 tonnes of strawberries and 1,500 of raspberries in the Vale of Evesham offered quite the perspective.
After his grandfather had the opportunity to move to Australia or England and chose “the cold one”, Bal’s father “did all the jobs” to get the money together to buy three acres of land.
“When you say the word resilience, I can only imagine the life he went through,” Bal said.
“When you were buying land then they were always worried you were going to put a shop on – now farmers are actually doing that, which is ironic.
“But he went out and bought the land and did it the hard way, trying to convince customers he could do a crop he had no idea about, building a team, buying plants and battling with the weather.
“I don’t know any other industry where you put £100 in and you’re happy to get £99 back at the end of the year, but you get on with it. Being a Punjabi Sikh, a Brummie and a farmer, that’s what we do – get on with it.”
Bal agreed that problem-solving was a foundation of resilience.
“We’ve had 45 days of non-stop rain. If anyone is interested in buying mud I’ve got plenty,” he added.
Another had been strong branding and leaning into the businesses’ unique story, including in Bal’s case, a YouTube documentary telling the family’s story.
Bal had been proud to say that skin colour didn’t matter in British farming, but that being able to do the job did – but that didn’t mean he wasn’t interested in showing a different, more diverse side of farming that will be important to its wider resilience.
Meet the speakers:
Rozanne Delamore
Grower & Florist, The Ledbury Flower Farmer
Operating from her smallholding, Rozanne specialises in growing seasonal, British-grown flowers with a strong commitment to environmentally responsible methods. She supplies wholesale blooms to florists across the region and provides bespoke floristry for weddings, funerals and gift bouquets.
In addition to her floristry services, Rozanne offers a range of immersive experiences, including sustainable floristry workshops, guided flower-farm tours and pick-your-own flower sessions.
Her business reflects a blend of craftsmanship, environmental stewardship and a deep-rooted love of growing, making her a valued producer within the local floral community
Dylan Jones
Partner and Beef Finisher, W T Jones & Son
His commitment to sustainable production, innovation and continual improvement has earned him some of the industry’s highest honours, including Farmers Weekly Beef Farmer of the Year and the British Grassland Society’s Farmer of the Year in 2024.
A passionate advocate for progressive, environmentally responsible farming, Dylan has significantly reduced the carbon footprint of his operation while improving performance and grassland utilisation.
His farm has long served as an open gateway for knowledge exchange – welcoming hundreds, if not thousands, of farmers through initiatives such as Farming Connect, where he has played a key role as a Demonstration Farm.
Regularly invited to speak at industry events, Dylan is dedicated to inspiring the next generation and championing world class Welsh beef produced in harmony with the landscape.
His leadership, openness and forward thinking approach continue to influence and elevate beef farming across Wales and beyond.
Bal Padda
Commercial Director, Vicarage Nurseries
He is also known for creating a short documentary about his family's farming journey.
Bal Padda's father, Makhan Singh Padda, founded the business in the Vale of Evesham after moving from Punjab, India. Bal joined the farm in 2009 and has been instrumental in expanding the operation to over 130 acres, which produces thousands of tonnes of strawberries and raspberries for major UK retailers.
Padda is an active member of the farming community, using his platform to promote diversity and inclusion in the industry. He is also a keen fundraiser, raising over £250,000 for charities and communities through the Growers United FC initiative.
Padda created a two-part documentary, titled It's a Punjabi Farm Innit - A Story of Strawberries, Faith and Farming, which highlights the life and struggles of farmers and the diverse community of workers at his farm. The film, which has a "Brummie touch" (referencing the family's connection to Birmingham) was a sold-out success at its premiere in Evesham.
Will Raw
NFU Poultry Board Chair | Director of Mill Poultry Ltd
During his time on the NFU Poultry Board, Will would like to place emphasis on better UK food security.
He is passionate about promoting the high standards of UK poultry to consumers, stakeholders and politicians.
As a former PIP (Poultry Industry Programme) participant, he was crowned the PIP award winner in 2021, receiving a prize from the Worshipful Company of Poulters.
Will operates a mixed farm in the north of England. The farm comprises 250 acres of combinable crops as well as broilers, supplying the independent poultry sector and growing for Frank Bird.
Alongside the farming enterprise, Will has invested heavily in solar panels and biomass boilers in attempts to achieve net zero.
His farm business has partnered with a farm-based AI company, Pondus. His farm is the principal Research and Development site, and Will is actively involved in the development of their farm management software systems.
David Exwood
NFU Deputy President
David farms south of Horsham in West Sussex with his wife and two sons over 1200 tenanted hectares in the heart of the Sussex Weald.
Starting in 1989 with 70ha the business now has arable, dairy beef, Sussex suckler herd and sheep enterprises. In 2003 the Farm Shop opened and sells a wide range of food from the Victorian stable yard at Westons.
He has served previously within the NFU as Branch Chair, West Sussex Council Delegate, South East Regional Chair as well as four years on Governance Board.
David was elected to the position of NFU Deputy President in February 2024.
Responsibilities
- EU and international relations
- Banking
- Biodiversity
- Food labelling
- Food safety
- Food service and hospitality
- Agricultural transition (productivity, ELMs, stability)
- Plant health
- Assurance schemes
- British Agriculture Bureau
- Health, safety and wellbeing
- Agricultural transport
- Uplands
- Tenants
