A Brecon beef and sheep farmer has been awarded one of the most prestigious opportunities in British agriculture.

The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (RWAS) has announced Tudor Roderick as the 2026 Royal Welsh Nuffield Scholar. The scholarship is administered by the Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust.

All Nuffield Scholars work within the farming, food, horticulture or rural sectors and during their 18-month study period undertake a research project in an area of their own interest. The winning candidate will receive a bursary to encourage them to travel for at least eight weeks, providing them with the opportunity to study practices used abroad and at home.

Mr Roderick’s chosen topic of study is: “Can low input forage-based livestock systems be key to business resilience in a changing climate?”

On Mr Roderick’s family farm in the Brecon Beacons, they are increasingly experiencing the impacts of more extreme and unpredictable weather patterns. Prolonged periods of hot and dry summers have significantly hindered grass growth, while increasingly wet winters are shortening the grazing season and driving up wintering costs. These conditions pose considerable challenges for maintaining a low-input, forage-based livestock system.

Through his study trip, he aims to investigate how farmers in other regions are successfully adapting their systems in response to climate change. This includes exploring the use of more drought-tolerant forage crops, implementing adaptive grazing strategies, and enhancing livestock genetics for greater resilience.

The primary objective is to identify practical, cost-effective, and scalable solutions that can be trialled back home at Newton Farm and shared with the wider farming community. By learning from others already tackling similar issues, Mr Roderick hopes to bring back insights that will help future-proof forage-based livestock systems in the UK.

Having grown up on the family beef and sheep farm, Mr Roderick developed an early love for agriculture, which he pursued academically by attending Hartpury College and later Aberystwyth University. In 2023, he received a Hybu Cig Cymru scholarship, travelling to Australia to look at sheep breeding for better resistance to worms, where he experienced first-hand the power of performance recording to drive genetic improvement in the sheep industry.

Outside of farming, he enjoys trail and cross-country running and has recently completed the 22-mile Man vs Horse race in Llanwrtyd Wells.

The Nuffield Scholarship offers forward-thinking people in the food and farming industry an 18-month opportunity to study a key area of change or development within the food chain, culminating in a report designed to help British farmers explore new ideas for their businesses.

In supporting this, the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society remains committed to encouraging education and research within the agriculture and land-based sectors in Wales, with continued investment in young people forming a core part of its charitable objectives and future vision.

Mr Roderick will be presented with a certificate during the official opening ceremony of the Royal Welsh Winter Fair on Monday, November 24.

For more information about the Winter Fair, taking place November 24-25, or to buy tickets, visit the RWAS website: https://rwas.wales/