About us

The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society has played a leading role in the development of agriculture and the rural economy in Wales for over a century since its formation in 1904.

Today our work includes providing support for business, social welfare and education in rural communities, and the organisation and staging of our ever-popular society events; the Smallholding and Countryside Festival, the Royal Welsh Show and the Winter Fair.

The society is a registered company (Company Registration No. – 892851 Wales.) and charity (Charity Registration No. – 251232), with the offices based at the Royal Welsh Showground in Llanelwedd, Powys.

Supporting a team of staff, the society is run through a committee structure. These committees, made up of hardworking and dedicated volunteers, consider everything from new building projects and planning applications, to competition rules and tradestands… along with everything else in between.

Committee decisions are then authorised by the board of directors, the society’s trustees. The board comprises of a group of 40+ members representing the society’s 14 advisory committees (12 in Wales and two in England), who meet 10 times a year. The board also has co-opted members, chosen for their particular skill to enhance the role of trustees.

Complete governance of the society is overseen by the council which meet annually to ratify decisions and appoint honorary directors.

The society’s charitable objectives are:

• to promote sustainable agriculture, horticulture, forestry, conservation and the environment and in particular in Wales;
• to encourage and promote agricultural science, research and education in particular in relation to food, farming and the countryside;
• to promote the improvement of livestock, the welfare of animals and the prevention and eradication of diseases in animals useful to man;
• to hold demonstrations of modern agricultural methods, technology and processes;
• to hold shows for the exhibition of livestock, poultry, farm and horticultural produce and forestry, and for the demonstration of agricultural methods, machinery and modern technology and hold events of an ancillary nature;
• to promote and advance for the benefit and education of the public the conservation protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment; and
• to promote rural arts, culture and heritage.

More information on the society’s constitution can be found in our articles of association.