Judges confirmed for comprehensive award classes at NBA Beef Expo 2020

13th March 2020

With trade stands filling fast at NBA Beef Expo 2020 (28th May), entries for the NBA Commercial Cattle Show (NCCS) and South Devon Herd Book Society Performance Championships are being encouraged, as we gear up towards the highlight of the beef industry calendar.

Gwyn Edwards of Corwen, Denbighshire will be judging the Native and Continental classes, as well as the Supreme Championships. Dafydd Lewis of Carmarthenshire will be judging the Baby Beef classes, Baby Championship and Young Handlers competition. The South Devon Herd Book Society Performance Championships will be judged by Mrs Anne Tully of Brixham, Devon.

Mr Edwards, who farms some 700 acres at his hill and upland farm at Betws Gwerfyl Goch, in partnership with his wife Lynn and sons Dion and Cai, is looking forward to judging at Beef Expo, having been a previous winner.

“I firmly believe in supporting all of our county and village shows, and Beef Expo is at the absolute pinnacle of that. I look forward to judging at Darlington’s new Humbleton Park Auction Centre, at what promises to be a modern, stylish venue, and hope to see as correct an animal as possible,” he adds.

Dafydd Lewis, 34, also comes from a rich farming and show heritage, and operates from the family farm Pentwyn, set in the picturesque valley of Cwrtycadno, set high in the Cothi valley in the very north of Carmarthenshire county.

Engaged to Miss Caryl Howells, daughter of the well-known show calf breeder Wendy Morgan, Mr Lewis and his parents also have a long track record of breeding award winning show calves.

“It’s a great honour to have been asked to judge the calves section at this year’s NBA Beef Expo,” says Mr Lewis. “I expect a very high standard of calves from all over the country, I will be looking for width and shape, but they will also need to be very stylish and correct.”

Mrs Anne Tully, current president of the South Devon Herd Book Society until her term ends on 25 March, farms in partnership with husband Gordon and son Philip at Waddeton, Brixham, and their Waddeton herd of pedigree South Devons is well known across the country.

She will be judging the Society’s Performance Championships, inviting performance breeders from across the country to compete.  Each class will be judged on inspection of the animals, and on their performance and will be placed accordingly. From these winners the Male, Female and Breed Champions will be selected.

Mrs Tully has enjoyed seeing how others farm around the country during her term as president, and ahead of Beef Expo she says, “I will be looking for well-presented animals showing good weight for age and good breed characteristics.

“I always urge breeders to not go off on a tangent and focus on one area, neglecting others. Good, balanced breed characteristics are key,” she adds.

Entry forms and schedules for the Beef Expo NBA Commercial Cattle Show (NCCS) are available at www.nationalbeefassociation.com/beef-expo/, with entries closing on 27th April 2020.

The South Devon Herd Book Breed Society Performance Championship entry forms are also available from the NBA Beef Expo website, with entries closing at the beginning of May.

You can now pre-order discounted entrance tickets in advance for just £10 by visiting https://nationalbeefassociation.digitickets.co.uk/category/10654?branches.branchID=1426 or call Katie Pearson on 07393 452544