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Cylfaa · Fferm Arad · Arad's Farm

TyfuAgriculture & Food

This is the agriculture & food home of Cylfaa. It is for employers taking farming, food and the land into a classroom, schools planning careers sessions, and students who want to know what the jobs are really like.

Arad · Arad's name means "the plough". Arad is the farming and food owl and looks after the land around the village.

Pack coming this term
Register interestFor students
Map of Cylfaa with Fferm Arad lit up. Select any home to visit its page. TŴR CODI MELIN YNNI GWEITHDY LUNIO TŴR FFLACH GLAN ATOM NEUADD MENTRO GARDD LLIW CANOLFAN IECHYD Y SALON CAE'R HER FFERM ARAD ✦ YOU ARE HERE ✦

Rydych chi yma · You are here

Fferm Arad in the village

Fferm Arad is one of the ten homes of Cylfaa. Each home is a sector of Welsh work, with its own pack and its own skills gap to close.

See the whole village

The skills gap

The gap Arad is closing

Current figures for Wales, and North Wales where they exist. Every number links to where it came from.

223,500jobs in Wales's food and drink supply chain
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That's 17% of the whole Welsh workforce, from farms and factories to shops, cafés and delivery. Supply chain turnover hit £27bn in 2024.

Source: Welsh Government, 2023

61median age of a Welsh farm decision-maker
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Only 3% of Welsh farm heads are under 35. As farmers retire, Wales needs a new generation to run its farms and land.

Source: FUW, Jul 2025

8,104farmers in the Sustainable Farming Scheme
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Year one of Wales's new scheme (2026) covers 905,545 hectares. Farms are paid to produce food and look after nature, trees and hedges.

Source: Welsh Government written statement, Jun 2026

Where employers are short
  • New entrants to replace an ageing farm workforce

    The median age of a Welsh farm decision-maker is 61 and only 3% of farm heads are under 35, so succession is a real gap.

    Source: FUW, Jul 2025

  • Woodland creation and forestry skills

    Wales aims for 43,000 ha of new woodland by 2030, but by 2024 only 12% had been planted.

    Source: Senedd Research, Nov 2025

  • Habitat and nature management on farms

    The SFS requires 10% of each farm managed as habitat. 8,104 farmers and 905,545 ha were in it in 2026, needing advice and practical skills.

    Source: Welsh Government written statement, Jul 2025

  • Skilled trades and technical roles in North Wales

    Region-wide (not sector-specific): 56% of North Wales employers face skills challenges in skilled trades and 68% struggle to recruit specific roles.

    Source: North Wales Skills and Employment Plan 2026-2028

  • Engineers and bakers for food manufacturing

    Village Bakery, Wrexham (800+ staff), sought 20 apprentices in 2024 and said it also needs engineers.

    Source: Village Bakery news, Mar 2024

Jobs and pay

What the jobs pay

Six real roles, from a first apprenticeship to a degree route. Salaries are typical yearly pay, with the usual range.

Welsh pay figures are used where they exist. Cards marked UK-wide or England use national figures because no Welsh breakdown was found. Apprentice pay uses the UK apprentice minimum wage from April 2026 unless an employer's own rate is shown.

Through every Byd

Green and digital in agriculture & food

Green and digital skills are changing every job in Wales, so every pack has a slide for each, written for this Byd.

Lliw's green path

Farming Is Growing Wales's Green Future.

Read more

Welsh farms now get paid to grow food AND protect nature. That means new jobs in habitats, hedges, trees, soil and water, alongside producing food.

  • 10%of every SFS farm kept as habitat

    Farms in the Sustainable Farming Scheme must actively manage at least 10% of their land as habitat for wildlife.

    Source: Welsh Government, Jul 2025

  • 43,000hectares of new woodland by 2030

    Wales's tree planting target. By 2024 only 12% was done, so Wales needs foresters, tree planters and woodland officers.

    Source: Senedd Research, Nov 2025

  • 905khectares in the SFS in year one

    About half of Welsh farmers joined in 2026. On Anglesey uptake was 33%, so advisers who can help farmers are needed.

    Source: Welsh Government written statement, Aug 2026

Fflach's digital spark

Farming Runs on Data Now.

Read more

Modern farms use cameras, sensors, satellites and apps. If you like tech, there's a place for you in food and land, from the field to the lab.

  • HerdVision 3D cameras

    Coleg Cambria Llysfasi's farm uses 3D cameras to collect livestock data automatically, helping animal welfare and cutting costs.

  • Sheep EID tags and readers

    Electronic ID tags let farmers scan sheep to record weights, health and movements straight into farm software.

  • Rural Payments Wales Online

    Farmers apply for the Sustainable Farming Scheme online, mapping fields, habitats and hedges digitally every year.

  • Drone and satellite mapping

    Drones and satellite images map crops, grass growth, woodland and habitats, so farms can plan and prove what they do.

Gemau Cylfaa · The Cylfaa Games

Play in Fferm Arad

Free games for students, families and classes. Presenters: they make a good last five minutes.

Job ExplorerFlip Arad's job cards in Fferm Arad: what the jobs pay and how to get in.Which Owl Are You?Eight questions. Find out which home in Cylfaa is yours.
All the Cylfaa games

Routes in

Four ways in

Real courses and schemes at North Wales colleges, universities and employers.

  1. Apprenticeship

    Farm Worker (Level 2) apprenticeships from 16. Coleg Cambria Northop runs vet care and vet nursing apprenticeships. Village Bakery, Wrexham, recruits apprentice bakers.

  2. College

    Agriculture Level 3 at Coleg Glynllifon near Caernarfon, on a 750-acre farm. Coleg Cambria Llysfasi near Ruthin teaches agriculture, forestry and agricultural engineering.

  3. University Degree

    Forestry BSc at Bangor University, home of the UK's oldest forestry school and the Henfaes research farm. Vet Science (BVSc) starts in Wales at Aberystwyth, with the RVC.

  4. Higher / Degree Apprenticeship

    Coleg Cambria Llysfasi runs HNC and HND courses for future farm managers and shepherds. Glynllifon's Level 3 leads on to a Level 3 Agriculture Apprenticeship or a degree.

Employers in this Byd
  • South Caernarfon CreameriesChwilog, Gwynedd
  • Village BakeryWrexham
  • Natural Resources WalesBangor
  • Halen Môn (Anglesey Sea Salt Co.)Anglesey
  • Bangor University Henfaes Research CentreAbergwyngregyn, Gwynedd
  • Aberystwyth University School of Veterinary ScienceAberystwyth

The pack · for employers

Walk into a classroom ready.

The agriculture & food pack is being built now and is coming this term. This is what will be in it.

What's in the pack
  • The full deck with speaker notes · scripted, timed and ready to present
  • A clean deck · the same slides without notes, for the screen
  • A 25-minute version · for a tight assembly slot or form time
  • Printables · role cards, myth busters, guess the salary, and activity sheets for Explorer (Years 7 to 8), Investigator (Years 9 to 10) and Strategist (Years 11 to 12)
  • A run sheet and a feedback form · so you know what happens when, and the school can tell you how it went

Built for Welsh classrooms. Mapped to Curriculum for Wales and the Four Purposes, with Gatsby Benchmarks evidenced. Bilingual, Welsh and English. Neurodiverse-friendly by design. From September 2026, careers and work-related experiences are a legal requirement under Curriculum for Wales.

Log each session in Owl Impact® and it becomes verified social value evidence.

Register interest. Be first when it's ready.

Leave your details and we'll tell you the moment the pack is ready.

We'll be in touch within 2 working days · hello@owl.wales · Privacy policy

Cae'r Her · The Cylfaa Challenge: young people solve Wales's skills gaps themselves, and the winning idea gets funded and built for real.

Bring the Challenge to your school

For students and parents

Which Byd are you?

Real Welsh jobs in farming, food and the land, what they pay and how to get in. The student pages for every Byd live here.

Explore your future

Find your Byd

Byd is Welsh for "world". Every home in Cylfaa is a Byd: a world of work. Join your school's team for the Cylfaa Challenge and send your Gofyn, your ask, to the Cylfaa panel.

Sources

Where the figures come from

Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 2026.

See all sources
  1. Welsh Government, Food and Drink Economic Appraisal 2024 · 2025 (data 2023/2024)
  2. Welsh Government, Survey of agriculture and horticulture: June 2025 · 9 December 2025
  3. Welsh Government, Written statement: SAF 2026 and SFS Universal layer numbers · 10 June 2026
  4. Welsh Government, Sustainable Farming Scheme: a new relationship between the people of Wales and farmers · 15 July 2025
  5. Welsh Government, Agricultural minimum wage changes from 1 April 2026 · April 2026
  6. FUW, A Mandate for Future Farmers (reported by farming.co.uk) · July 2025
  7. Senedd Research, Tree planting: what's next for Wales? · 19 November 2025
  8. Farmers Weekly, Low SFS uptake in Anglesey prompts calls for scheme changes · 11 August 2026
  9. North Wales Regional Skills Partnership, Skills and Employment Plan 2026-2028 · July 2026
  10. National Careers Service job profiles (vet, veterinary nurse, food scientist, farmer, forestry worker, tree surgeon, ecologist, countryside ranger, butcher, food factory worker, agricultural engineering technician, agricultural contractor) · Accessed October 2026
  11. Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, Agriculture Level 3 (Coleg Glynllifon) · Accessed October 2026
  12. Coleg Cambria, Llysfasi news (HNC/HND, HerdVision, Hwb Arloesi) · 2025-2026
  13. Coleg Cambria, Animal care apprenticeships (Northop) · Accessed October 2026
  14. UCAS, Bangor University Forestry BSc · Accessed October 2026
  15. LEAF, Bangor University Henfaes Research Centre · Accessed October 2026
  16. Aberystwyth University, BVSc Veterinary Science · Accessed October 2026
  17. Village Bakery, Fast-growing bakery kneads 20 new apprentices · 20 March 2024
  18. Agriland, Welsh dairy co-op posts record sales (South Caernarfon Creameries) · 17 August 2019
  19. Green Jobs, Natural Resources Wales profile · Accessed October 2026
  20. Welsh Government, Halen Môn: Anglesey Sea Salt · 13 September 2017