Surprisingly, not since the late Roscoe Howells held office some 39 years ago, there has not been a County Show president from the south of the county.

This sad omission was corrected this year as Dennis Reed, of Trevayne, Saundersfoot, was very worthily elected to office and, over the period of the show, enjoyed the family support of his daughters, Georgina and Lois. Kim Griffiths, the society’s lady ambassador, was also on hand to assist with the many trophy presentations.

One of the great features of the show is the social aspect, meeting up with old friends, relations and business acquaintances - some of whom you may not have seen for the past 12 months.

With strong deep roots in mid Pembrokeshire, he considered that he was very ‘lucky and proud’ to represent the Reed family and, as always, wished for fine weather.

“The weather governs the success of any show of this kind, especially the financial side,” he reminded.

Indeed, the showground experienced 22 degrees with wall to wall sunshine on the first day and the second day, although overcast, remained dry and warm until late afternoon.

Officials expressed the view that the attendance on Tuesday and Wednesday was marginally down on previous years, but this was widely attributed to the farming community capitalising on excellent harvesting weather.

The event is always considered a must for the visiting holidaymakers to the county and is each year probably their only contact with anything to do with farming, the countryside and the environment.

Politicians, including Ministers in Government, also count themselves amongst the supporters of the county show and, post Brexit, are anxious to hear from farmers and their unions of their very real concerns for the future of the industry.

Farmers Union of Wales members stressed the point to Paul Davies, AM, that Wales should not, under any circumstances, be placed at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the UK when it comes to allocating budgets post 2020 and that the Welsh Government had a huge responsibility to its farmers, and the public at large.

In their meeting with Simon Hart MP, they expressed their concern that milk producers in remote areas with little choice of contracts remain vulnerable. Given the current volatility in the market and the slow adjustment of milk volume to supply needs, it was felt essential that producers must be protected and given greater supply chain power.

In their meetings with the Welsh Minister, Lesley Griffiths, and other Members of Parliament and the Welsh Government, the National Farmers Union team discussed the likely impact of a nitrate vulnerable zone that would affect 80 per cent of Pembrokeshire farmers up river from Neyland.

County branch chairman Walter Simon remarked: “In the context of the EU Referendum result, Welsh Government’s plans to go ahead with the consultation on new NVZ designations will come as a surprise to many farmers.

“The EU Nitrates Directive is an overly prescriptive and inflexible piece of legislation. The Action Programme requirements reduce farmers’ scope to make decisions based on their own knowledge of their land and prevailing weather conditions. The EU Directive also imposes high costs to agriculture and we used this opportunity to emphasise to policymakers the important contribution that farming makes to the vitality of rural areas.”

Early champions:

HORSES

Shires, Newnham and Godden.

Welsh Cob, Section D, S. E. and S. J. Bigley.

Welsh Pony (Cob type), Section C, Reed and Co.

Welsh Mountain Pony, Section A, A. Overton-Ablitt.

Welsh Pony, Section B, Miller and Davies.

Welsh Breeds, A. Overton-Ablitt.

Welsh part-bred, Eirian Wyn Williams.

Palomino, Eirian Wyn Williams.

BEEF CATTLE

Hereford, Doris and Aled Jones.

Welsh Black, Marion Phillips.

Longhorn, Bernard and Margaret Llewellyn.

Beef Shorthorn, Keith Jones.

British Blue, Randall Williams.

Any other Native breed, Paul and Kirsty Westaway (Aberdeen Angus).

Limousin, Delyth Price and Ivor Griffiths.

Simmental, Aled Davies.

Murray Gray, Wendy Finucane (Otter and Co).

Any other Continental breed, Carol Tucker (Charolais).

Commercial, Dai Thomas.

Young handler, Andrew Phillips.

Cattle Lines, George, Ionwy and Non Thorne.

DAIRY CATTLE

Ayrshire, Philip and Stuart Williams.

Holstein, Hefin Wilson and Son.

Jersey, James Evans’s Future Dreams Partnership.

Brown Swiss, Clive and Pam Davies.

Dairy Shorthorn, Simeon and Eleanor Thomas.

Young handler, Nia Thomas.

Cattle Lines, Kevin Thomas.

TRADE STANDS

Large, J. E. Lawrence and Son.

Small, Fenton Vets.

More details and pictures in your next week’s Observer.