Rhaglenni da byw wedi ymddangos ar gyfer Gŵyl Gwanwyn y Sioe Frenhinol
BBC presenter Adam Henson will judge rare and native breeds of cattle at the Royal Welsh Spring Festival.
More than 330 classes and special awards for livestock have been scheduled for this year’s Royal Welsh Spring Festival, the highest number recorded since the event was first staged by the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society 11 years ago.
The schedule, which has gone out to around 2000 smallholders and potential exhibitors, lists 137 classes for sheep, 62 for pigs, 78 for goats – including Angora, Pygmy and Dairy breeds – and, new at the Festival this year, five competitive classes for cattle in which 27 rare or traditional British breeds are eligible to compete.
The cattle classes will be judged by Adam Henson, the well-known presenter of the BBC Countryfile programme, who also farms in the Cotswolds and runs the Cotswold Farm Park with its collection of over 50 breeding flocks and herds of British rare breed farm animals.
Mr Henson, who will select the class winners and the champion animal for the top prize of £150, said: “I am very pleased to be asked to judge the new cattle classes for Traditional Rare and Native Cattle and the Pig Pet Show at the 2011 Spring Festival. I have not been to this Festival weekend before, but I am looking forward to visiting Wales and attending this fantastic event. Keeping a variety of rare breeds at home on the farm, I am excited to see what will be on show at the forthcoming event. I am also passionate to help and support the smallholder community and look forward to seeing you all in May.”
Prizes totalling £310, including £100 for the winner, are also being offered this year to breed societies staging the most informative, educational and appealing stand in the cattle section. These stands must include a pen of animals representing the individual breed and the competition is confined to rare or native British cattle.
In the sheep classes the Llanwenog breed, from the Teifi Valley in Dyfed, appears in its own dedicated section of the schedule for the first time, as do Berkshire pigs which originated in the Thames Valley over 200 years ago. The pig show, regarded as one of the largest in the country, includes a qualifying round for the Pig of the Year competition, which is open to all breeds of pig at the Festival. The final will be judged at the Great Yorkshire Show.
The Festival is also a qualifier for the Young Shepherd of the Year competition the grand final of which will be judged at Hatfield House Country Show in Hertfordshire in August.
Angora goats have long been prized for their luxurious mohair fleeces and Angora fleece and craft competitions will again be run at the Festival enabling visitors to see a range of fleeces and crafts demonstrating the many ways in which fleeces are turned into garments and other articles.
This year’s two-day Festival takes place on the showground at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, on Saturday and Sunday, May 21 and 22.
The closing date for entries is April 1.
Download the entry forms here
top printiwch