Three new Associates of Royal Agricultural Societies in Wales
A Cardiganshire farmer who is a master breeder and one of the most successful exhibitors of dairy cattle in Britain has been made an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies.
W J P (Jimmy) Wilson of Pendre, Cardigan, developed the Tregibby herd of Holstein Friesians and has won a succession of awards in some of the country’s major shows. His successes include the coveted Royal Welsh Show Dairy Interbreed Championship three times in a row, the Royal of England and the Welsh Dairy Show Interbreed Championships a number of times, and both the National Premium Breeder Award and the Premium Breeder Award for Wales on several occasions.
His Dalesend Storm Maude, which has often been described as “the best cow in the world”, was voted All Britain Champion on four successive occasions. She was also champion Holstein and Interbreed Champion at the Dairy Event at Stoneleigh in 2005 and the only Holstein cow classified EX97 in the United Kingdom. She won the Interbreed Championship at the Royal and Royal Welsh shows and the European Dairy Event, and he is the only breeder to have won the Champion of Champions trophy on five occasions.
Latterly he diversified into the Jersey breed and at the 2005 Dairy Event won both the Holstein and Jersey championships. Mr Wilson, who is president of the South Wales Holstein Club, was president of the United Counties Show in 2005 and is this year’s president of Cardigan’s Ffair Barlys, an annual event which upholds an ancient tradition established in bygone years when rural people once a year visited the town to sell their wares to local people. Today the event attracts thousands of visitors to Cardigan adding substantially to the tourism industry of the area.
Jonathan Davies of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, and Alan Pritchard of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, have also been made Associates of the Royal Agricultural Societies.
Alan Pritchard receives his Associateship for his work in bridging the generation gap in farming by developing partnerships between those presently responsible for running the family business and their successors who will take over the farm in the future.
A former chairman of Pembrokeshire NFU and an enthusiastic advocate of agricultural training, he believes the gradual delegation of responsibility to the next generation should form part of all family farmers business strategies. Supporting opportunities for young farmers to engage in an earlier business career would help to alleviate concerns over the decline in the numbers of young people involved in farming and reduce the average age of those committed to the future of the industry.
Jonathan Davies is National Field and Marketing Manager of National Milk Records plc with responsibility for 33 field staff and 600 milk recorders across the UK and Ireland. During a 15 year career in the dairy industry he has held a number of key posts ranging from a dairy hygiene consultant for Genus Animal Health, to managing and implementing the dairy produce quota regulations for the Milk Marketing Board.
His present role includes developing and implementing NMR’s marketing plan to ensure that more dairy farmers use the company’s herd management services. These aim to obtain and communicate more accurate information through milk sampling on the disease status of dairy herds so as to improve health monitoring and control.
Mr Davies is a Life Governor of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society and his contribution to Welsh agriculture and the dairy industry was recognised in 2004 when he was awarded the society’s bursary for the Oxford Farming Conference. He is also a qualified chartered surveyor and part time auctioneer and a former playing member of London Welsh RFC.