This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Wales Farmer 18 WINTER FAIR JANUARY 2014


BLACKOUT: Prime stock on show in the Welsh Black classes at the Winter Fair.


PICTURE: Debbie James.


Winter Fair wonderland as records fall yet again


THIS year’sRoyal Welsh Winter Fair was another


record breaker. Arecordattendance of 29,374


and atop price of £7,100 fora baby beef heifer wasjust part of the overwhelming success of the 24th annual Winter Fair at Llanelwedd,Builth Wells. Described by the chairman of


the RoyalWelsh boardofdirec- tors,John Davies,as“ablock- buster and aphenomenal suc- cess,” the Winter Fair attendance wasupby2,500 on 2012 and 1,300 morevisitors than ever beforewerewelcomed to the showground forthe event. The decision to increase the


number of outdoor trade stands by 40% by opening anew avenue paid offfor the society as Christmas shoppers went on a spending spree and at one point cash machines at the two-dayfair ranout of money and had to be hastilyreplenished to cope with demand. Livestock form the coreofthe


Winter Fair,which is widely acclaimed as the finest prime stock showinEurope and this year’sentries of nearly 1,250 cat- tle,sheep,pigs and horses were of outstanding quality. The tussle forthe supreme championship in the cattle class- es resulted in victory forregular exhibitor R. J. Wright, of


Somerton, Somerset. His


Limousin heifer,Powerhouse Hella, bred by Colin Phillips,of Weobley,Herefordshire, sold for £6,650 to Dunbia, one of the fair’smain sponsors.The reserve supreme champion waswon by Elfed Williams,ofSennybridge, Brecon, which wasthe fifth occa- sion forhim to takethe reserve award. The fair maintained its reputa-


tion as areadysource of prime youngstock with showpotential and the biggest success of the sale went to Bryan and Fiona Jones,ofPentregwyn, Llanfihangel-Nant-Bran, Brecon, whohaveexhibited at every Winter Fair since its incep-


tion. Their home-bred baby beef heifer,Blackberry,aMarch-born Limousin-sired British Blue x Limousin, topped the prices with abid of £7,100 by Michael Alford, of Collumpton, Devon. Another of the Jones’sentries


of similar breeding sold for £2,500 to Andrew Bishop,of Hereford. Therewere376 entries in the


sheep section wherethe supreme championship went to apair of Beltexewe lambs owned by Dafydd Lewis,ofLlanwrda, Carmarthenshire. They were bought by Dunbia (Wales) for £550 per head. The reservesupreme winners, apair of Texel-cross ewe and


wether lambs from R. Hall & Son, of Dalston, Cumbria, were bought by local butchers Morgan of Builth Wells for£310. In the hotlycontested carcass competitions A. D. Bishop’s Beltexlambs from Eldersfield, Gloucester,took both the supreme and reservechampi- onships forsingle lambs and were sold to T. W. Roberts &Sons,of Cardifffor £1,050. The winners of the pairs com- petition, R. J. Slade’sDutch Texels,also sold to Morgan Butchers of Builth for£280 each. Welsh pigs dominated both the


singles and pairs classes.The pairs championship waswon by the entry of Glyn Davies,of


Denbigh and were sold to J.W. Williams &Co, Denbigh, for £420 each. The supreme championship


title forasingle pig went to Mrs Davies,ofTryalmawr, Aberystwyth, and it wassold to R. Rattray,Aberystwyth, for £304. The fair attracted astrong


entry of 539 in the horse section wherethe coveted supreme championship waswon by Mr & Mrs H. S. Davies with Cadlanvalley Rio,their Welsh Pony yearling colt. The auctioneers,McCartneys,


reported solid trade and there wasexcellent buying support from across Wales and beyond.


Charitiesset to benefit from festive farming art


THE Christmas carddesigns of twobud- ding Welsh artists were raising money for the charities Ty Hafan and Ty Gobaith at the RoyalWelsh Winter Fair. Ten-year-old Elizebeth Evans,of Narberth CP School wonthe Welsh cate- gory of the Farmers’ Union of Wales Christmas cardcompetition with her design of farmanimals in awintry barn. The English category waswon by five-


year-old TillyEdwards,ofCaerau Primary School, Maesteg, whose design showedamerry Christmas cowwith aglit- tery hat. FUW president Emyr Jones said: “The competition wasagreat success again, attracting hundreds of entriesfromacross Wales. “I would liketothank every child who


FEELING FESTIVE: Jess Morgan (events and marketing officer at Ty Hafan), Brian Thomas (FUW) and Caryl Jones (FUW chief executive officer for Ceredigion) with the FUW Christmas cards at the FUW’s stand at the Winter Fair.


PICTURE: Debbie James.


entered the competition and tell them that without their participation the contest would not have been such asuccess.I would also liketoexpress my gratitude to


For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk


the staffatthe schools up and down the country thatassisted the FUW in the run- ning of the competition. “It gave children in urban and rural


areas of Wales an opportunity to connect with the farming industry and express their thoughts in acreative and colourful way. “I believe it is vital thatweasfarmers maintain astrong link with young people so thatthey understand the waythatfood is produced in this country.” Aselection of cards formed acolourful


centrepiece at the FUW’sstand at the Winter Fair in Builth Wells wherevisitors were able to purchase the winners’ cards. The cards arealso availabletobuy from


FUW county offices throughout Wales or by mail order from the union’s head office in Aberystwyth. The winners receiveda£30 gift voucher,


apacket of the cards depicting their design and a£50 cheque fortheir school.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28