Gethin Havard makes no bones about it - he's deeply committed to wool and firmly believes in its future. Last year he was elected as the British Wool Marketing Board Member for mid-Wales and now his fellow Board Members have elected him to the role of the Board's Vice-Chairman.
"I became involved in the wool board because I'm really passionate about wool - it's as simple as that. I've always believed you should support the things you believe in and I genuinely want to see wool achieve the recognition it deserves and for farmers to be paid a fair price for it.
"Wool has been through some difficult times in recent years but all the indications are that wool is about to enter a new era as sustainability issues, driven largely by the cost of energy, move to the top of the consumer agenda," says Gethin.
A great product that's undervalued - that's how this mid-Wales sheep and beef farmer from Sennybridge, Powys sees British wool. But he's convinced things will change.
"The world is going through a time of great change and so much of what has been accepted as the norm is now being questioned.
"Food is no longer something any country can take for granted and along with that will comes a recognition that naturally produced, sustainable products like wool are needed.
"It has an inestimable value compared with man-made fibres that require un-sustainable manufacturing processes, and high energy use."
This year's wool cheque paid to sheep producers will be substantially increased but Gethin says that despite the difficult times of recent years when wool prices have been very low, he's been encouraged by the support given to the wool board by sheep farmers.
"Unity brings solidarity and we're all far stronger if we stick together. Everyone saw what happened to dairy farmers after the demise of the Milk Marketing Board. Although wool prices have been low I firmly believe that things would have been far worse if there had been no wool board to market British wool.
"It's certainly an organisation that's the envy of sheep producers across Europe. The British Wool Marketing Board is a co-operative working on behalf of farmers but I believe there's more we could do to get the message across to producers about how it operates and how it markets their wool.
"That's something I'm keen to see happen," says Gethin.
He farms 900 acres in the Brecon Beacons National Park with brothers Huw and Hywel where they run around 2500 ewes. As well as the farm's main flock of Brecknock Hill Cheviots the brothers run a flying flock of around 1000 broken-mouthed hill ewes that are bought and sold annually after producing one crop of lambs.
The Havard family also have a herd of 120 Limousin-cross sucklers put to the Charolais. Calves are sold at the Brecon and Radnor Suckled Calf Rearers sale at Sennybridge in May. Gethin is a past chairman of this successful suckled calf marketing group.
The Brecknock Hill Cheviot flock produces prime lambs marketed through a scheme which is now supplying 10,000 lambs a year to Marks and Spencer.
Gethin was a founder member - and is now vice-chairman - of the Brecknock Hill Cheviot Marketing Scheme that was set-up eight years ago.
"It's a scheme that's not only delivered a premium price for our product but has also led to an improvement in the sheep that we keep. Although I support the auction system I feel that to really implement improvement in a flock it's important to be able to see and evaluate the carcasses you're producing.
"We're now aiming for sheep with more scale, a stronger type of ewe, fewer of them and more twin-born lambs. Lamb grades have improved in recent years and carcase weights have gone up by 2kg per lamb."
The specification is for lambs between 16-21.5kg with lambs marketed from September onwards.
"One of the great advantages of the Brecknock Hill Cheviot is its hybrid vigour because the breed is a blend of native white-faced Welsh breeds and the South Country Cheviot," says Gethin.
And just as he believes the success of the Brecknock Hill Cheviot marketing scheme has a lot to do with providing consumers with a high quality product with full traceability - in terms of how and where it's produced - so too can the marketing of wool capitalise on the new demands of consumers in exactly the same way.
"As consumers become increasingly aware of the origins of everything they consume - and I say that in the broadest sense - I believe ethical purchasing of many products will bring with it a rise in demand for wool."
