The setting for the 2018 Royal Welsh Grassland Event, in the heart of this year’s Royal Welsh feature county of Montgomeryshire, made it readily accessible to farmers from a wide area of England and Wales and attracted an impressive number of visitors.

During the official opening of the event, held at Carnbwll, Four Crosses, the 2018 Royal Welsh president, Tom Tudor, expressed his gratitude to the host, Martin Evans, for ensuring the site was in an excellent condition in what had been very difficult and wet season.

Tom went on to say that Martin and his family were an inspiration to the farming industry and willing to take on any challenges that the industry may face, something we should all embrace. He added that as a highly regarded dairy farmer, contractor, businessman and former Sir Bryner Jones winner, Martin was the obvious choice to host such an excellent event.

Visitors to the 2018 event enjoyed browsing over 80 tradestands, 100 acres of working demonstrations, including the latest muckspreading techniques, in one of the most productive areas of Wales.

The trial plots, working demonstrations and comprehensive seminar programme reflected the diverse and distinctive nature of Montgomeryshire, appealing to a wide range of visitors, from contractors to the traditional small family farm.

Event chairman, Dafydd Jones, said: “Grassland is a very important feature of Mongtomeryshire, for sheep, beef and dairy. We were very fortunate to be able to host this event at Carnbwl, Four Crosses, and to show the very best techniques on this progressive farm.

“The county is very diverse, ranging from the Welsh speaking uplands in the west, which is mainly beef and sheep farming, to the lowlands. The lowlands are very productive and progressive, with dairy farming, arable, biomass and poultry.”

Along with the addition of seminars and more demonstrations, this year saw the introduction of a number of competitions and awards. The winners are as follows:

Best Trade Stand, judged by Steve Hughson and Ann Tudor: 1st Germinal, 2nd Oliver Seeds, 3rd Coed y Dinas

Best Demo plot, judged by Brian Rees and Phil Breeze: 1st New Holland, 2nd Rea Valley, 3rd Krone

Heaviest bale, fun competition: 1st McHale, 2nd John Deere, 3rd Pottinger on the Edwards & Farmer plot.

Event organiser Helen Davies said; “This year we made sure we staggered the demonstrations throughout the day, with set times for the different techniques. Muckspreading was also included, because the machinery and technology used by Martin Evans Contracting made it a natural addition to the day.”