Written by Robyn Benbow:

"I am the fifth generation of my family to be farming in the same beautiful valley here in Mid Wales. I have been farming here for over ten years since graduating from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. It is still very much a family farm with my mother and my wife helping to run the farm together with myself. The farm has won several awards for the environmentally friendly way in which it is run.

I am involved with many organisations within my area such as the community centre, local community forum and farming union. Together with a few other farmers who also farm in an environmentally friendly way we are trying to set up a label scheme so the shopper can know that the wildlife has been protected on the farm where there meat is produced.

I was lucky enough to visit Australia last year and it was really interesting to find that they have very similar problem in their rural areas as we have here in Wales. The young people are leaving for the cities and the farming population is get older. The main difference was the "can do" attitude that the Australians have. I am trying to bring some of the ideas from there to my farm here.

Sometimes I feel that Mid Wales has been forgotten by the Welsh media which is why I am really pleased to be the Community Reporter so that stories from this area can be heard throughout Wales."

Written by Robyn Benbow.

Click on the links below to listen to some of Robyn's reports which have been broadcast on The View From Here.

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Robyn in The View from Here studio for the first time...
Robyn Benbow talks to Matthew Richards about himself, his local area and why he became a community reporter for The View from Here.

Robyn meets a local butterfly expert...
In March 2006, Robyn was in Llanfyllin to talk to the region's butterfly expert. Simon Spencer travels throughout Europe in the search for new and rare types of butterflies and also advises the Wildlife Trust closer to home. He began collecting butterflies when he was seven, but his interest was re-kindled more recently when he discovered a rare butterfly almost on his doorstep in Wales.

Moths...

In November 2006 Robyn went to Commins Coch with Montgomery moth recorder, Pete Williams, to see the variety of moths in the region.