About Us
Optimising performance from pasture has been at the heart of our approach since James started the business. Our experience to date has shown us that with this focus, we can help farmers achieve low input, productive and environmentally enhancing enterprises which provide a fair profit and healthy work life balance.
Meet Our Team
James Daniel
James grew up on his family’s mixed beef and sheep farm in Cornwall, he studied Agricultural Engineering (and rugby!) at Harper Adams University before working across the UK and Ireland for AGCO. In 2015 he returned home and the family reviewed their business, recognising that pasture management was a limiting factor. This encouraged James to travel to New Zealand to work at Burleigh Station, near Palmerstone North an innovative beef farm running 1100hd. The farms owners, Harry and Chloe Weir had developed a unique grazing management system – TechnoGrazing – based on permanent lanes, sub-divided into cells with temporary electric fencing. All stock on the farm moved every 2 days, with excellent fencing and water infrastructure minimising labour. Near organic and making no conserved forage the farm produced twice the kgLW/ha compared to the regional average from its diverse species permanent pastures. The skills and knowledge learnt at Burleigh underpins James’s approach today.
Back home James started working with his neighbours, founding Precision Grazing in 2016 and running an AHDB sponsored innovation project comparing benefits of TechnoGrazing with Set-stocking. This project demonstrated that by changing the grazing management, significant gains could be made in efficiency and productivity – producing more with less inputs. Since then James has worked across the UK helping farmers to implement and managed their grazing systems. He also started a number of regional discussion groups – to support likeminded farmers and enable peer to peer learning. As demand has grown so has the team with Rhys Williams, Sarah Morgan & Emyr Owen joining the business, all bringing hands-on experience of grazing management and farm business change.
James has experience across a wide range of soil types, enterprises and business structures bringing a thorough understanding of pasture-based livestock systems to all work from business planning to grazing system design. His knowledge is sought by corporate and agri-tech companies having been involved in projects with Rothamstead, FAI Farms, McDonalds, Nofence and Ruumi (satelight data). Away from work James enjoys spending time outside, no longer playing rugby he is supporting the Cornish stereotype by learning to surf! He is also director of Progressive Farming Company and Grassroots Farming, separate but complementary businesses. With his wife they are expecting their first child in October!
“I believe a “pasture first” approach can deliver for everyone being profitable and productive whist enhancing the environment. The biggest barrier to change is knowledge & confidence, my team and I are here to help guide farmers through their transition and enable them to achieve success without the stress!”.
Email: james@precisiongrazing.com
Phone: 07534930484
Rhys Williams
Rhys grew up on a 60ha farm on the Llyn Peninsula, North Wales where he and his father run 1,000 hoggets and 150 kiwi cross contract reared dairy heifers on a rotational grazing system. Before joining Precision Grazing in 2018, Rhys was head of agriculture at Glynllifon College. After 15 years of teaching he developed a desire to work more directly with the industry as well as on his own farm and other businesses.
In 2016 Rhys, alongside landowner Harry Fetherstonhaugh and farmer Emyr Jones set up a share farming agreement, one of the first of its kind in the UK. The joint farming venture is located in Abergele, consisting of 300ha, running 2200 New Zealand Romney breeding ewes, plus 600 replacements marketed under Hauora Romney and a contract dairy heifer rearing enterprise.
Rhys has considerable experience in the design, set-up and management of profit-focused, pasture-based beef and sheep systems. Trained in holistic management he has helped farmers reduce the need for artificial fertiliser and concentrate feed whist improving animal performance. He works one to one with a number of businesses, often alongside their accountant to plan for and guide them to profit.
He also uses his personal share farming experience to advise others alongside robust enterprise budgets which underpin successful new ventures. A fluent Welsh speaker he facilitates a number of discussion groups as part of the Prosper from Pasture Programme. He is passionate about helping people get the most out of their business – providing guidance and accountability, helping to communicate new ideas with all family members. Husband and father of three Rhys is a big rugby fan and dedicated coach for the local junior rugby team in which his sons play. He also enjoys running and spending time with his family exploring the local beaches.
“A prosperous, financially, and environmentally friendly livestock farming industry is crucial to rural communities. Supporting farmers to change their businesses and achieve their personal goals is very rewarding”.
Email: rhys@precisiongrazing.com
Phone: 07951 023473
Sarah Morgan
Sarah is from a mixed 120ha farm in Shropshire, where alongside her father she has helped transition the business from suckler beef to a dairy beef enterprise, finishing 100 cattle per year alongside a breeding ewe flock and arable enterprise. The business has reviewed each enterprise and made changes to simplify and integrate them to work in harmony with the land they have. Sarah has also developed a new self-catering holiday let business. Sarah graduated from Harper Adams University in 2019, with a degree in Agriculture and Farm Business Management. She then spent a year working on an 850hd spring calving dairy farm in Fairlie, New Zealand with farm manager Will Green, and farm owners Leonie and Kieran Guiney. Here she developed a passion for pasture first livestock enterprises alongside experience of the role of people management in creating a healthy work-life balance.
Sarah joined Precision Grazing in 2019 and has since worked with dairy, beef and sheep clients throughout the UK. Her experience ranges from the design and implementation of grazing systems to planning and budgeting for new livestock enterprises, often with arable farmers who are starting “from scratch”. Sarah is also an expert in pasture measurement and grazing management, responsible for managing the Welsh Pasture Project as well as a facilitator for several dairy discussion groups throughout Wales.
She is passionate about helping clients improve the physical and financial performance of their business, by putting pasture-based systems, with a focus on soil health first. Aside from farming Sarah’s interests include playing netball, horse riding and taking the time to visit her friends and family across the UK.
“Farming is becoming an increasingly complex business; I am passionate about implementing simple but profitable and environmentally beneficial systems. I especially enjoy helping people learn new knowledge and skills, and gain confidence in pasture-based systems, seeing how this alone can improve a farm business is very rewarding.”
Email: sarah@precisiongrazing.com
Phone: 07498 190052
Emyr Owen
Emyr Owen studied agriculture at Aberystwith University then spent a couple of years in New Zealand as livestock manager at Mt Somers Station, a sheep and beef farm running 7500 ewes and 1000hd store cattle. On his return to the family sheep and suckler beef farm in North Wales he implemented rotational grazing alongside working for Farming Connect supporting research and knowledge transfer projects with livestock farmers to improve productivity and environmental and social sustainability.
In 2018 he managed the conversion of the family farm to a 400 cow spring calving dairy herd in partnership with their neighbour which included formation of a new limited company as well as installation of rotary parlour, water system and grazing infrastructure. He also became a contact farm manager for HYG Farming, Pentryfoelas planning and managing the development of a 220ha hill farm into a youngstock rearing unit. The project focused on the regenerative farming principles of species diversity and livestock integration to improve soil health implementing mob grazing. Emyr has also experimented with different methods of pasture improvement and winter management from low labour housing, to forage crops to differed pasture.
Emyr’s experience of change management and collaboration, both in his own family business and in his other roles means he is able to support and guide others through their journeys. This is underpinned by both the ability to create budgets and plans as well as being able to communicate them to a range of stakeholders from family members to farm staff and bank managers! Emyr enjoys watching rugby and getting out on his gravel bike around the great trails in North Wales as well as spending time with his wife and young son.
“I am excited to meet and work with farmers on implementing change within their business. With so much volatility and uncertainty facing the industry, now is the time for farmers to take control of the things within their own farm gate – namely using grazing management to improve soil health and underpin a resilient system which creates profit whist enhancing the environment”.
Email: emyr@precisiongrazing.com
Phone: 07494008958
