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Farmer Stories

Sam Kenyon - Grazing livestock and reviving ecosystems in North Wales

Wales
Case Study
biodiversity
direct selling
Livestock
natural flood management

At Glanllyn Farm in Denbighshire, Sam Kenyon is proving that farming and nature can thrive together. By restoring soil health, managing flooding, and boosting biodiversity, she’s creating a resilient, nature-friendly farm - while keeping it financially sustainable.

Glanllyn Farm spans a 2km-long, narrow strip of land in North Wales, where the River Elwy winds through a steep wooded valley. It’s a mixed farm, with its 160 acres divided into 60 acres of woodland, 75 acres of meadows and around 20 acres of river, shingle bank and habitat. NFFN Cymru Steering Group member Sam Kenyon manages the farm with a nature-friendly approach.

Originally from Sussex, agriculture was part of Sam’s childhood, as her dad worked on a large 1,000-acre farm just outside Brighton. Drawn particularly to livestock, she was discouraged from pursuing a farming career and so, in 2011, she set off to travel the world. It was in New Zealand, working on a farm, that her passion for agriculture reignited. Determined to carve out her own future in farming, she returned to the UK in 2014 with her husband, settling near family in North East Wales.

At the time, Glanllyn had been tenanted for generations and was largely used for maize production, with only a couple of fields for grazing. Sam initially reclaimed these grazing fields before deciding what to do with the rest of the farm.

Maize cultivation had led to soil compaction, and heavy rainfall caused land to erode into the river, leading the Elwy to wear away its own banks. The extent of land loss was so severe that Sam had to have the farm remapped to determine its accurate acreage. She observed that fields with grazing animals had healthier soil and withstood flooding better than those used for arable crops. As a result, she converted all the land to livestock pasture, sowing herbal leys and installing livestock fencing, water pipes, and troughs.

Another major turning point for Sam came in 2020 when Glanllyn was hit by several floods in a single year. Sam turned to Natural Resources Wales (NRW), which suggested remodeling the gradient of the riverbanks to create a gentle slope. Willow tree trunks were buried in the banks so that they would regenerate and hold the soil together. (You can read more about here flood management solutions here.)

In 2020, Sam introduced rotational grazing at Glanllyn, allowing fields more rest between grazing periods. Developing a system that suited both the farm and the changing seasons took time and adjustments.

“There’s no hard and fast rule to our grazing,” Sam says. “I used to move the sheep every three days, but it involved a lot of faffing with electric fencing. I realised my fields were small enough not to need it, so I put most of the fencing back in the shed and planted hedgerows to divide some fields instead.

“With three-day rotations, we had fast-growing lambs but also a lot of lameness and sore feet from the grass. Moving them once a week worked better - it ties into a lovely traditional saying that a ewe shouldn’t hear the church bells twice in the same field.”

The impact has been a dramatic improvement in how Glanllyn handles extreme weather. “In some of the old maize fields, the compaction was so bad I couldn’t even push a spade into the soil during the wettest winters,” Sam recalls. “When it was cultivated, it turned over in huge, ankle-breaking, pale-coloured blocks.

“I’ve been surprised by the changes. Now, when I walk through the fields, there’s hardly any puddling or capping. Along the river, the bank restoration has also worked really well.”

Glanllyn Farm is now home to a small flock of around 90 ewes. Based on her experience working on other farms, Sam has bred her own White Faced Welsh Mules, a breed that thrives in most systems. The sheep stay out all winter, with only the ewes expecting twins or triplets receiving home-grown supplementary feed. The farm also produces its own hay, which is fed to the animals on the ground in winter - helping to reseed the soil and protect the ewes’ feet in wet conditions.

In summer, a small group of heifers sometimes grazes on the farm, joining the rotational system. There is also a herd of around 20 Boer goats, which do require winter feeding and shelter in wet weather. Most of Glanllyn’s produce is sold through a local livestock market, though Sam also sells goat meat, along with lamb and mutton boxes, directly to customers.

The more biodiversity I see here, the more I want. Seeing a variety of species on the farm is good for my mental health.

Sam Kenyon

The goats have also led to Glanllyn’s small-scale return to arable farming, with a field of barley now providing winter feed for both the herd and the ewes at lambing time. This helps reduce costs, especially as in 2024, no pesticides, sprays, or fertilisers were needed. However, arable farming at Glanllyn will remain limited to growing a small amount of cereal as part of a traditional rotation.

“Growing some cereal for feed is helping us create a closed-loop system and rely less on bought-in inputs that come with their own carbon burdens,” Sam says.

Looking ahead, Sam has several projects in mind. She hopes to restore an old farm building into a classroom for farming and outdoor skills. She envisions food and farming classes, training days, and short courses making use of the farm’s woodland, as well as opportunities for schoolchildren to visit and learn about where food comes from and how it can be produced in harmony with nature.

Sam is proud of the rich biodiversity that calls Glanllyn home. Her latest bird survey in 2024 recorded 34 different species on the farm. Efforts to improve water quality have attracted riverine species like otters and kingfishers, and a new project is underway to encourage the return of dippers. Ravens have made a comeback, slow worms thrive on the farm, and in 2024, Glanllyn recorded its first grass snake in years. Sam has also begun working with farmers across North East Wales to help conserve the curlew, which faces threats from habitat loss and predators such as badgers, buzzards, crows, and foxes.

Sam credits her upbringing in Sussex for shaping her approach to farming and her deep connection to nature. “When I took Glanllyn back in hand, I knew I wanted nature and biodiversity alongside my livestock,” she says. “It just didn’t make sense to farm every square meter or spend money trying to turn scrubby areas into highly productive land that would require costly inputs long term. From the start, I decided to leave messy, rich corners, create more varied woodland, maintain healthy riverbanks, and keep bramble banks for nature - wherever it made sense for both wildlife and farm management.”

“The more biodiversity I see here, the more I want,” Sam says. “I didn’t want to be a farmer responsible for less biodiversity, I wanted to be one who helped create more. Plus, seeing a variety of species on the farm is good for my mental health.”

As she looks to the future of her land, this mindset has only grown more important. “I think about a young girl today who loves nature and how much of it might already be gone by the time she works on the land in 30 years. What will she actually get to work with that’s still alive? It’s about putting yourself in the shoes of the next generation. I can’t help it, that’s just the way I think.”