Royal Welsh Show weighcrate winners

Winner of a sheep weighcrate worth over £700 on the Intervet stand at the Royal Welsh Show was the Wilson family from Bwlchllan, Lower Chapel near Brecon. 12-year old Rhys completed the survey on the stand (with some help from his dad), and was joined by father Hadrian and grandfather Hayden for the presentation of the weighcrate at the Sheep Event at Malvern last week.

“We’ve never won anything like this in the past,” said grandfather Hayden. “Now there really is no excuse for not getting the perfect fat lamb! We’ll be weighing and checking them regularly.”

The farm has been in the family since 1958 and, currently, they run 2,000 breeding ewes and 150 sucklers. The Buelah Speckledfaced flock is crossed to produce fast-growing lambs which are sold at Builth Wells market.

“All the mules are sold vaccinated with Heptavac-P Plus, as it give peace of mind to the buyer, as well as allowing us to market them at a premium,” said Hadrian.

One of the questions in the survey asked about producers’ thoughts on the future of the UK sheep industry.

“We’ve got to produce better quality lamb, probably from a smaller national flock and look at controlling costs such as winter feeding and labour,” said Hadrian. “We aim to get as many lambs through the system as possible, and ensure they are finished well.”