AFTER eight weeks of hard competition, a team made up of ex-competitors from Meirionnydd and Ceredigion have been named 2015 Fferm Ffactor champions.

After attracting farmers from across Wales to participate in Fferm Ffactor: Brwydr y Ffermwyr this year the ex-contestants team beat rivals, Gareth’s Team from Anglesey, in a memorable final which was broadcast earlier tonight.

The winning team was made up of former contestants of the popular agricultural competition – Rhodri Jones from Llanuwchllyn, Rhys Williams from Tywyn near Aberdyfi and Heilin Thomas from Llandysul – with two of them former semi-finalists in previous years.

The winners were announced by the shows presenter, Ifan Jones Evans, at a special ceremony in front of hundreds of people that included family and friends of the teams at the Winter Fair in Builth Wells on Monday.

Winning team caption, Rhodri, 37, who runs a beef and sheep farm in Llanuwchllyn, took part in the series back in 2009. He said he was delighted that his team came up on top.

He said: “It couldn’t be anything but a very special feeling. We had to win this time round. It’s proved that we were not quite as bad as people thought and nobody has lost twice on Fferm Ffactor!”

Rhys, 36, who manages a 700-acre beef and sheep farm at Tywyn, was a semi-finalist in the 2013 series. But that didn’t calm the nerves before the final.

He said: “I was nervous all day before we found out who had won – but thankfully it went the right way for us.

“Gareth’s team were very good but we clicked as a team and as the three of us have competed before, none of us wanted to lose.”

Heilin, 28, reached the semi-final in 2011. He works on his family’s sheep and beef farm in Ceredigion.

He added: “It hasn’t sunk in yet. But I am so glad that we have come out of the competition with the title.”

The champions took home a brand new Isuzu D-Max Yukon worth over £20,000, a year’s free insurance and a special edition Fferm Ffactor cuff-links made by Gwynedd jeweller, Beth Jarvis.

Rhodri added: “It has been an adventure and a pleasure to work with Heilin and Rhys. We’ve stood and pulled together as a team and, fortunately, we didn’t fall as a team. The other two are such to get a Christmas card from me this year!”