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Time running out to apply for ‘trip of a lifetime’
Just a few days remain for farmers, butchers and others in the red meat industry to apply for the prestigious £3000 annual scholarship offered by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC).
Now in its nineteenth year, HCC’s scholarship is a respected and well-established vehicle for people to visit other countries, and learn lessons which can be used to improve the red meat industry in Wales.
Recent scholarship winners have visited counties such as the USA, Norway, New Zealand, Australia and France, and have gone on to make a major contribution to the industry in Wales.
Huw Williams, who farms near Talley, Carmarthenshire, was one of the successful scholars in 2015-16. “I used my HCC scholarship to visit Australia and New Zealand, comparing different methods of DNA shepherding and EID tracking as cost-effective methods of recording parentage” said Huw. He added, “I would advise anybody to think about a topic which is of interest to them, and go for the scholarship.”
Alan Gardner is another recent scholarship winner to have visited New Zealand. “It was a trip of a lifetime for me,” said Alan, of Plas Newydd Farm, Pontblyddyn, Flintshire. He emphasised that lessons learned from the scholarship can be applied at home; “my project was to see what we as Welsh sheep farmers could learn from our New Zealand equivalents. We need to put into practice what they’re doing to produce lambs as economically as possible.”
The deadline for applications is 17 June, and information on how to apply is available online at hccmpw.org.uk