RWAS top award goes to Pembrokeshire veterinary surgeon
For the first time in the history of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s most prestigious prize, the Sir Bryner Jones Memorial Award has recognised the major contribution of the veterinary profession to the Welsh farming industry.
The award is made annually to a person who has excelled in a different sector of Welsh agriculture and this year 11 veterinary surgeons from across Wales were nominated for the prize.
The winner, Anton Lowe, has been in practice in Pembrokeshire for 40 years and is the senior partner of 15 vets at the Fenton Veterinary Centre, Portfield, Haverfordwest. He has combined general practice with work on meat hygiene, is a registered instructor with the Agricultural Training Board, participates in Farm Assurance Inspections, and is honorary Veterinary Surgeon to the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society. Mr Lowe also carries out a wide variety of speaking engagements demonstrating veterinary matters to local schoolchildren, and more recently has been actively involved with the Welsh Assembly Government in pursuing a holistic approach to the eradication of Bovine TB.
In their report the judges for the award said they were impressed by the dedication of veterinary professionals who were committed to the task of treating and preventing animal diseases. Their interview strategy explored the wider views of the nominees for the award seeking in particular any contributions that provided benefits additional to those within their practices. The standards were “extremely high” and the Welsh counties were to be complimented on their nominations, the judges said.
Sir Bryner Jones was Professor of Agriculture at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and subsequently became Welsh Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture. He was chairman of the RWAS Council from 1944 to 1953 and president of the society during its Golden Jubilee year in 1954.
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