Farm contractor from Pembrokeshire wins Royal Welsh top award
An agricultural contractor from West Wales, Alan J James of Cilrhedyn, Llanfyrnach, Pembrokeshire, has won the 2011 Sir Bryner Jones Memorial Trophy, the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s most prestigious prize.
The award has been made annually since 1957 to someone from a different branch of the farming industry who has attained the highest level of achievement in the chosen sector and this year, for the first time since the introduction of the award, it has gone to the person adjudged to have established the most successful tractor-based agricultural machinery contracting business in Wales.
There were 10 nominees for the 2011 award all of whom, said the judges, had established successful and efficient contracting businesses from scratch. The standards were impressive and all the nominees should be congratulated on their achievements. Their choice of the winning contractor from Pembrokeshire as the one which best met the judging criteria was a unanimous decision made after considerable deliberation.
“The wide range of contracting services offered by Alan James, his family and his efficient staff, was unrivalled,” the judges said. “No task was too big or too small and the way his business had developed was a credit to Alan and his team. His workshop was impressive and serviced his needs and those of local farmers.”
Sir Bryner Jones shaped the direction of the RWAS for 50 years. He was Agricultural Commissioner for Wales in 1912 and subsequently Welsh Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture. He was President of the society during its Golden Jubilee year in 1954.
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