Each year the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society presents promising students and rising stars with awards and scholarships which recognise and pay tribute to their enthusiasm and dedication to Welsh agriculture. The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society would like to congratulate all the award winners, and thanks all candidates for taking part.
The following students were presented with awards at yesterday’s Awards Ceremony (Tuesday 23rd July) at the 2024 Royal Welsh Show.
Student of the Year Award
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s Student of the Year Award for 2024 has been won by Ela Harries from Plwm, Llandysul, Ceredigion.
The annual Student of the Year Award is open to students who have completed NVQ Level III or the BTEC ND/NC, C&G certificate/diploma courses in Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, Animal Nursing, Horse Management, Countryside Management, or other land-based related management courses.
The judges, Mrs Joy Smith and Professor Wynne Jones OBE FRAgS, remarked on the “exceptional group of young people nominated for the RWAS Student of the year award 2024”.
The winner, Ela Harries, a student at Coleg Sir Gâr, Gelli Aur Campus, had a very impressive CV, that illustrated her in depth understanding of her course content, along with a comprehensive list of personal achievements. Ela is intending to continue her education at Harper Adams University, studying Agriculture and Business. She shows an ambitious personality, with no fear of change and embraces opportunities for the future including progressing the genetics of their Cheviot sheep flock, continuing with her successful Welsh Cobs and developing the farm diversification projects.
The Gwili Jones – Coleg Sir Gâr Educational Bursary
The Gwili Jones – Coleg Sir Gâr Educational Bursary has been awarded to Rhys Jones, Gelligron, Pontardawe, Swansea.
This award recognises the importance of supporting students who are entering the agricultural engineering industry through facilitating a one-week work placement with a prestigious manufacturer within the sector.
The bursary is available to any student currently studying the Agricultural Engineering course within the faculty of Agriculture at the Gelli Aur campus, or any student having successfully completed a course within the faculty at Coleg Sir Gâr within the last five years.
Rhys is a dedicated and hardworking student, who has completed his first year of Level 3 studies with exceptional results. He has consistently demonstrated his commitment to academic excellence and his conscientious approach to his studies has set him apart as a standout student in his cohort.
Beyond the classroom, Rhys contributes significantly to his family farm, applying his knowledge and skills daily. He also works for a local contractor and engineering firm, where he is accruing vital industry experience, reinforcing his academic learning with real-world application.
The support that the Gwili Jones Educational Bursary provides Rhys will allow him to make significant strides in his career, bringing innovation and expertise to the industry that he is so passionate about.
IBERS Student Award
The award for the best student of agriculture at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University, has been won by Ifan Davies of Llanrhystud, Ceredigion.
Ifan has graduated in 2024 with a 1st class degree in Agriculture, where he attained the highest overall mark across the whole department. Ifan excelled in a range of subjects at Aberystwyth, including Farm Planning, Advanced Farm Management and Applied Livestock Nutrition. His final year research project explored the effects of grazing ewes pre-tupping on forage rape compared to grass.
Ifan is currently the vice chairman of Llanddeiniol YFC. He is kept busy with an agricultural contracting business and has included the family farm in the ‘GrassCheck GB’ grass management project whilst working on securing the future through new ventures.
Harper Cymru Student Award
This year’s Harper Cymru Student Award, jointly promoted by the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society and Harper Cymru, is awarded to Gwyn Davies
The Harper Cymru Student Award was first introduced in 1999 by the Late Mr Bill Ratcliffe, a Harper Adams Fellow and a founder of the Harper Cymru Alumni Association. The award seeks to encourage students from Wales studying at Harper Adams University to contribute fully to developing both their academic and personal potential.
The award recognises the student with the best academic record allied to a very positive contribution to the broader student learning environment of the college through its clubs, societies or through other extra mural activities. Also embraced in the award is a full contribution to the activities of Harper Cymru (the college-based club for students from Wales).
This year’s interview panel, Doris Taylor and past winners, Hannah Burgoyne and Edward Worts, selected Gwyn, who’s from Llangeitho, Ceredigion, for his ambition to continue his family’s farm in a sustainable manner, adapting to the ever-changing demands of environmental pressures and market conditions. His aim is to use the knowledge and experience that he has gained at Harper Adams to add value to the family business.
Aled Rhys Jones, BSc(Hons) MRICS FAAV ARAgS NSch, Chief Executive of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society congratulated Gwyn and commented; “It is so encouraging to see young talent excelling at university and taking advantage of the opportunities to travel. The future of Welsh agriculture is in safe hands with students like Gwyn making his mark on the industry. Llongyfarchiadau mawr a phob lwc i’r dyfodol”.
Dr Richard Phillips Agricultural Student Award
A Royal Welsh Agricultural Society award for students in memory of the late Dr Richard Phillips, a leading figure in agricultural education in Wales, has been won by Logan Williams, Salem, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire.
The Award is made possible by the generosity of Dr Phillips’ family, comprises a Society Certificate and a monetary prize and is open to students graduating from Agricultural Departments of the University of Wales.
Students are pre-selected by the Heads of the Agricultural Departments, with each University being entitled to submit up to four students of agriculture and/or agriculturally related subjects.
The final selection is based on an appraisal of the student’s personality, practical knowledge of agriculture and its application, depth and knowledge of the Agricultural Sciences, the economic implications, and the role of agriculture in the future.
The judges, Mr Huw Griffith, Mrs Mary Elder Richards and Mr WI Cyril Davies FRAgS, were impressed with Logan’s “deep understanding of agriculture, particularly animal science and his mature perspectives on regeneration, sustainability, Brexit, and the political strategies needed to sustain Welsh farming.
Logan has recently graduated with a First Class Honours BSc Agriculture with Animal Science degree from Aberystwyth University. He will be joining Dunbia’s agricultural team in September, focusing on procurement and implementing their Plan Four Zero for sustainability. As well as being an active member and former officer of Llandeilo YFC, he is a skilled sheepdog handler and has represented Wales at multiple international and World Trials.
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