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Posted 31 July 2012
Watch the video on our YouTube channel.
Staff, students, alumni and friends of Harper Adams University College came together under glorious sunshine at the 2012 Royal Welsh Show.
Harper Adams increased its presence at the show this year, hosting two reception events, sponsoring two cattle classes and sponsoring the Wales YFC Young People’s Village which entertained and housed thousands of people over the course of the week.
Dr Llewellyn said as the show came to a close: “It’s been a great show. We’ve had a very busy week, with wonderful weather and record attendance at the show. And that has justified our sponsorship. We’ve had a wonderful turnout at the stand of former students, students who want to come to us and of industry contacts as well.
“Wales is a very important farming nation, of course, so we want to make sure that we continue to recruit good quality students from Wales and we will feed those students back into the farming sector in Wales. Hopefully they will then have a productive career in the sector. Our graduate employment rate of 98.3 per cent is very strong and we want to contribute part of that back to Wales.”
On Monday, Harper Adams graduating student Carwyn Rees was presented with the RWAS/Harper Cymry Student of the Year Award. Carwyn was also instrumental is setting up a presentation to the family of the late Gethin Webb, a Welsh student who sadly died at the completion of his studies in 2011.
Carwyn said: “I wouldn’t miss the Royal Welsh Show for anything. It’s the one show of the year that you have to go to; it has such a great atmosphere. Receiving the RWAS/Harper Cymry award is a great honour.
“We have presented an engraved stone in memory of Gethin. His family have an area in their garden which they have asked people to provide engraved stones for, so we got together, as Harper Cymru and made quite a large stone for Gethin’s family to have as a memento of how we all remember him.”
Another prize went to Harper Adams alumni Sion Thomas Williams, who took home the 2012 Brynle Williams Memorial Award. Sion’s win was announced at the Young Farmers’ building by Wales’s Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Alun Davies, who was accompanied by Mary Williams, the wife of the late Brynle.
The Welsh Government established the Brynle Williams Memorial Award two years ago to recognise the contribution of Mr Williams both as an Assembly Member and also as an active farmer. The award marks the life of the former AM and also celebrates the achievements of young farmers who have been involved in the Young Entrants Support Scheme.
Sion, along with his wife Claire, secured a 10 year tenancy on Beili Ficer farm, Llansawel, near Llandeilo, in October 2010, after graduating from Harper Adams. The Deputy Minister said: “I was very impressed with the high standard of applicants we received. The winner, Sion Thomas Williams, is the kind of innovative young farmer we want to see grow and thrive in the Welsh farming industry.”
On Tuesday, the University College hosted a brunch and an afternoon reception, which together attracted hundreds of alumni and future Harper Adams students to the YFC building and the Harper Adams stand, in the Lantra Building opposite.
On Wednesday morning, Principal Dr David Llewellyn entered the cattle ring to watch the judging of the Fitzhugh Dairy Championship and then present prizes to the winners and runners-up. The winners were Holsteins Wyndford Goldwyn Earl, from Wilfred Maddocks Ltd, Newport, Shropshire (local to Harper Adams) and Castellhyfryd Spirite Rosina, owned by S P & S R Davies, from Whitland, Carmarthenshire. Dr Llewellyn later presented the Fitzhugh trophy to the successful pair during the parade of prizewinning livestock.
On Thursday, Harper Adams returned to the Cattle Ring for judging of the RWAS/Harper Adams Dairy Junior Handling competition. This was won by Jessica Hall, from Llangain Carmarthenshire, showing a Glanmor Jersey cow. Jessica is a student at Harper Adams partner institution Reaseheath College in Cheshire. The runners-up in this competition were Rhydian and Iwan Jones.
Staff from Harper Adams also caught up with some alumni who were working or showing at the Royal Welsh. Watch the video to hear their thoughts on the show and Harper Adams.
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