LIVESTOCK entry forms have been submitted for the UK’s premier agricultural event.

Nearly 1,300 classes and special awards are listed in the livestock schedule for this year’s Royal Welsh show in July including over 300 for cattle, 435 for sheep, 80 for pigs and 58 for goats. Classes and special awards for horses and ponies total 374.

Fifteen pedigree beef and five dairy breeds are scheduled for the show at Llanelwedd in July, and 43 breeds of sheep, the largest display of its kind at any agricultural show in the world, will line up for judging.

A dairy breed scheduled to make its first appearance at this year’s Royal Welsh Show is one of the oldest breeds in the world, the Brown Swiss. They have been in the UK for some 40 years and a breed society was established here in 1973.

Several prizes of £500 with reserve awards of £250 are being offered for the cattle championship winners and a number of prizes worth £200 will be awarded to the champions in the sheep section, with a top award of £300 for the champion of champions.

The top prize for horses will be the £750 Dillwyn Thomas Perpetual Trophy, which will go to the winner of the supreme championship.

A new Royal Welsh Driving Championship is scheduled in the horse section for the best driven exhibit in the show.

The schedule lists 80 classes and specials for pigs, including 13 for Tamworth pigs, which have their own classification this year.

There are 58 classes and awards for goats, including dairy breeds and Angoras, and an Angora fleece competition.

Among the other events scheduled are those for young horse, cattle, sheep and pig handlers, and there are also competitions for shepherds and beef and dairy stockmen.

The schedule is also available online at rwas.co.uk.

The closing date for entries was May 1st.

The Royal Welsh Show takes place at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, from July 22nd to 25th.