Unions reward farmer’s achievements at Royal Welsh Show

On the 25th anniversary of the NFU Cymru Wales Woman Farmer of the Year Award, this year’s prize was awarded to third-generation hill farmer Katie Rose-Davies at the Royal Welsh Show.

Judges of the award, which champions the contributions and profile of women in the agricultural industry, remarked that the standard of this year’s entries had been exceptionally high, but that Katie’s passion and enthusiasm for the industry had shone through.

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Farming in the Ogmore Valley, where her family have farmed for 90 years, Katie, a mother of three and lecturer in agriculture at Bridgend College, was commended for developing a marketing strategy for selling lamb, establishing the Bwlch Mountain Lamb brand in 2019, and significantly boosting sales directly to the public.

Katie is also a part of a farming photography group that feeds into a PhD project at Gloucester University, looking at how the UK livestock industry is reacting to current climate change discourse.

NFU Cymru deputy president and judge of the award Abi Reader said: “We are delighted to announce Katie as the winner of the 25th anniversary Wales Woman Farmer of the Year Award.

“Katie is a strong advocate for safeguarding the future of Welsh agriculture, Welsh heritage and culture, and believes education plays a key role in promoting the fantastic work farmers do in producing safe, healthy and sustainable food.”