NSA Welsh Sheep 2023 is counting the days till visitors are welcomed to the event in Newtown on Tuesday, May 16.

The on-farm event will showcase the very best of commercial farming in Wales. It is a recognised technical and informative event which is not to be missed by sheep producers far and wide.

And this year there will be a new emphasis on reaching out to tell the public of the positive story that is Welsh sheep farming.

Amongst many attractions on the day will be the busy seminar tent featuring discussions on the role of lamb and mutton in a balanced diet, the sustainability of sheep farming, and the importance of looking after the next sheep farming generation.

Opening the event will be Glandon Lewis, a partner at Morris Marshall and Poole with Norman Lloyd, who run Welshpool Livestock Sales, the event’s premier sponsor.

He believes it’s an opportunity to welcome people from all over Wales and the UK to a very special occasion. And with Wales noted worldwide for producing quality lamb, he feels NSA Welsh Sheep is vitally significant to the general public, as well as to farmers.

He says it’s important to get a mix of people there and to include those who don’t understand what happens on farms.

He stresses the importance of reaching out to consumers: “It gets people together and it’s very important that in the farming community that we all gather together and have a good open day. I’m looking forward to a very successful day for everybody involved.

“It’s a good message to get out to the whole of the United Kingdom population that what we produce and what we generate from the good ground that we farm is of top quality and it’s a worthwhile effort to put on anybody’s plate to eat healthily every day.”

Mr Lewis has been an auctioneer for 35 years and is the son of a local farm, married to Sioned from a farming family at Lake Vyrnwy. He has worked closely with the host family for much of his working life and has long been involved with the Welsh Sheep events.

The Major Sponsor Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC), is looking forward to sharing the latest developments at NSA Welsh Sheep 23. HCC’s Producer and Processor Support Lead, John Richards, says it will be a good opportunity to catch up after a very challenging few years.

Other sponsors include British Wool, MSD Animal Health, Shearwell Data, RWAS, Bluefaced Leicester Sheepbreeders Association, Pilgrim’s UK Lamb, Wynnstay, Crystalyx, Charlies Ag and Turf and Elanco. There will be approaching 200 trade stands, including 45 breed society and sheep breed stands.

Hosts, Hugh and Sioned Owen, with their son, Dafydd, are especially keen on sharing their farming story with the public, as well as with the farming community. The event will this year be more outward facing, with local schools and colleges invited.

The host site at Red House Farm, Aberhafesp, Newtown SY16 3HH extends to 550 acres and rises to 855 feet above sea level, with sweeping views down to the Severn Valley.

The Owen family run 1,000 Texel cross ewes at Red House, together with Dafydd’s flock of 55 pedigree Beltex sheep. There are 100 pedigree Limousin suckler cows, mostly registered. They also run a flock of a hundred pedigree Texel sheep.

Full details of the event can be found at welshsheep.org.uk

  • Want to make sure all the latest farming news from Wales is delivered straight to your door? Subscribe to the print edition of Wales Farmer on 0800 052 0198.