Recent News

Society AGM
Society AGM to be held at the Greyhound Inn, Builth Wells Saturday November 5th at 2pm.
Please click here for a copy of the agenda.

Official Society Sale Report
Photo - Country Girl Media
To download/view a copy of the catalogue please click here.
11th September 2022
Brecon Livestock Market
Show @ 8am
Sale @ 10am
(Both Torddu's & Torwen's will be shown at the same time)
For further information please contact the auctioneers directly or the society secretary.
Official Society Show & Sale
The Societies show and Sale will this year year be held in Brecon on Sunday 11th of September.
Entries close 3rd August 2022
For any one wishing to enter the entry forms can be found below.
For Male entry forms please click here.
For Female entry forms please click here.
All forms are to be returned to the auctioneers office.
Welsh Winter Fair Results





Cancelled - Society AGM 2021

Breed Record at the Society Sale
A special thank you to our sponsors - Caleb Roberts Insurance Services for sponsoring the show and Crystalyx UK for sponsoring the highest price animals in each breed.
Photograph by Country Girl Media
Full Results & Images to follow

Society Show & Sale
Please click here to download a copy of the catalogue.

RBST Support

Committee Meeting - Sale update
Torwen Badger Face now recognised as a rare breed!
The Torwen Badger Face had joined the Rare Breeds Survival Trust watch list; the breed is currently classified as 'At Risk'. Although it is sad to see that the Torwen has reached such low breeding numbers we hope that as a society this will be a turning point within the breed and that alongside working with the RBST we hope to promote and watch their numbers grow.
As a society we are extremely grateful to Mr B.W.EAGLES BSc B Vet Med MRCVS for all his hard work and efforts that he's put into making the Torwen have the status it deserves.
This is what Mr Eagles had to say regarding the decision - 'I am pleased to report that the Rare Breeds Survival Trust have accepted the Societies application to have the TORWENS classed as a separate breed of Badger Face Welsh Mountain sheep and as such are going to place them on their Watchlist . To achieve this I had to demonstrate that the Torwen has unique genetic characteristics particularly in relation to their colour coat pattern as well as providing information from the last 40 years of flock books.'

2021 Registrations Letter
The letter of birth this year is J with the society tag colour being White.
If you'd like further information please contact the Registrations Officer.
You can find the details here as to how to order the female section of the tags from Daltons.

Connor flock leads the trade in both sections at Llandovery’s coloured breeds in-lamb sale.
Young breeder Mr C Marshall topped both the Torddu & Torwen trade on the day with a full mouth Torddu ewe topping both sections making 440gns, second top price was seen in the Torwen section making 400gns. We’d like to thank Clee Tompkinson & Francis alongside that of the coloured breeds committee for organising such a sale and too all vendors & purchasers for all their support under such circumstances.
Full report below.
Torddu
Lot 135 – Full Mouth ewe (Connor Flock) – scanned carrying twins – 440gns,
Lot 136 – 4yr old ewe (Connor Flock) – scanned carrying twins – 250gns,
Lot 137 – 3yr old ewe (Connor Flock) – scanned carrying twins – 220gns
Lot 120a – Full Mouth (Llechach Flock) – scanned carrying twins – 220gns
lot 120 – 3yr old (Llechach Flock) – scanned carrying twins – 200gns
Empty hoggets to 160gns from the Lan Flock
Torwen
Lot 138 - 3yr old - scanned twins - 400gns
Lot 139 - Full Mouth - scanned twins - 300gns
There was also a keen demand for Torddu ewes in-lamb to a lowland sire; they topped at 180gns.
New E-Communications Officer
The Society would like to welcome aboard Katy Davies as our new E-Communications officer. Katy is a fifth generation farmer and has a wealth of knowledge within the sheep industry and many good links within agriculture.
Many of you would've seen Katy in shows & sales all over the UK where she's been a familiar face having grown up attending and competing at them.
Aside from coming from a farming background and working as a contract shepherdess on farms all over the UK, She also prepares stock for shows and sales.
Katy also has a large knowledge base when it comes to social media having successfully built up her own portfolio over the years, with a keen eye for detail and the understanding of what it takes to be apart of a breed society we'd like to wish her all the best in her new role.
"I'm looking forward to meeting and working alongside the society, it's members and associate's to help promote this iconic Welsh Breed. If anyone has any questions/suggestions on what they’d like to see on the website/social media pages then don’t be afraid to get in touch either via email or telephone.
Look forward to hopefully meeting you all soon, Stay safe. Katy"
Rare Breed Survival Trust Update.
I am pleased to report that Defra and the Farm Animal Genetic Resources Committee
have accepted that the Torwen Badger Face is a distinct breed of mountain sheep. This has now paved the way for the Society to approach the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) with a view to placing them on their Watchlist. An application was submitted in September and I understand will be considered by their board in November .If we are successful I anticipate they would be placed in category 4 which is classed as AT RISK .having less than 1500 registered breeding ewes. It is of interest that this is the same category as the Balwen and the Hill Radnor.
B.W.EAGLES BSc B Vet Med MRCVS
======================================================
NSA Wales & Border Ram Sales Online Only for 2020
It is with deep regret that the NSA Wales & Border Ram Sale Committee has made the very tough decision to cancel the sales in 2020. The sales will not be going ahead this year, in the light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and recent updates from both the UK & Welsh governments. Instead a free online register will be created to link NSA member vendors to potential buyers. The decision was left for as long as possible, in the hope that the situation might improve by August. However, with current social distancing regulations and restrictions on large events, the health, safety and well being of buyers and sellers and everyone involved in the sales is the main priority. Full details of the online register will follow later this week but I wanted you to be aware of our decision as soon as possible. Thank you for your ongoing support and we hope to be back in 2021, better than ever.
Provisional 2021 dates are as follows:
Early Sale August 2nd 2021
Main Sale September 20th 2021
Yours sincerely
Jane S Smith
Covid-19 update
Annwyl Aelodau / Dear Members
You are all aware of the current national situation regarding Covid-19. The Society has no option but to cancel the committee meeting that was scheduled for 19 April and the Spring meeting on 3 May.
A number of members who regularly participate in local and national shows will know that several societies have either postponed or cancelled this years shows. Our advice is that members should check with individual shows in order to get the most up to date information.
The next society newsletter is still planned for the end of March and the Society Flockbook at the beginning of May. However, I must stress, that I can give no assurance of an accurate date, due to the ever changing daily situation that may affect Society officers and/or the printers the Society uses. I appreciate that not all members are on Facebook, so can I please ask you to share this message with fellow members who are not on-line. There will also be an update in the newsletter.
Farming is well known for being an industry that can be lonely at the best of times, and this current situation that we all find ourselves in is worrying for us all due to many different reasons. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and if anyone needs a chat don’t hesitate to pick up the phone to myself, any of the officers or committee members.
The country finds itself in an unprecedented situation and therefore it is imperative that we all follow Government and medical advice. Now is the time for us all to pull together, support each other and be kind.
Diolch / Thank you
Malcolm
The Badger Face sheep stand set up at the NSA sheep event in Malvern.
=====================================================================
Want to join?
Join the Society to participate in the shows and sales, register ewes and rams, and share your interest and enthusiasm for this fascinating breed with over 300 like-minded members. It costs just £25 to join the society or £10 for under-16s. Complete the online form or download it here.
Ear tags
Please send your lamb registration forms & payments to the society registration secretary http://www.badgerfacesheep.co.uk/officers-and-contacts.html
To buy the female portion of your ear tags tel: 0800 838 882 or email sales@dlid.co.uk