College to host celebration of farming and education this summer

A CELEBRATION of agriculture and education will take place at Coleg Cambria Llysfasi.

The college, near Ruthin, will host a sheep shearing and wool handling event on Saturday June 8.

On the same day the LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) Open Farm Day will be held from 10am-4pm.

Both activities are designed to promote careers in farming and attract prospective students, as well as shining a light on the diverse range of skills needed to work in the sector.

The Llysfasi shearing and wool handling competition will include qualifying for the Welsh Open Circuit. Among the categories are Novice Blade Shearing, British Wool Junior, and the Heiniger Open.

Agriculture lecturer and event organiser Dafydd Jones said: “We are looking forward to welcoming previous and new entrants to the shearing contest again this year.  

“With world class ewe lambs available again from Clwyd Hughes of Llangwyfan Farm in Denbigh, it’s going to be a quality event.”

Llysfasi farm manager Dewi Jones added: “We are all looking forward to the annual Llysfasi Shears sheep shearing and wool handling competition.

“It is great to see the high-level skills on display from all the class entries in the wool handling, machine and blade shearing classes. We hope that the weather will be with us this year.”

As well as the sheep shearing programme, visitors can take in the free Open Farm Saturday with LEAF Education, which gives people the opportunity to see for themselves how food is produced and show their support for the UK agriculture industry.

There will be rural arts and crafts, forestry chainsaw demonstrations, sheep dog trials, tractor rides, beekeepers, a digger challenge and much more.

Dewi added: “Following on from a successful LEAF Open Farm Sunday last year we decided to hold the event on the same day as Llysfasi Shears and the sheep dog trials, to give people a flavour of the sector and what we do here at the college.

“It’s going to be a very busy and interesting day, so we hope to see a good turnout.”