Wales YFC News

What a great 4 days a group of Wales YFC members had in France! The 40 members gathered at Birmingham Airport on Wednesday 8th October to begin their journey to France and land in Paris. The group spent their afternoon taking in the sights of Paris with their first stop visiting the Eiffel Tower. The group travelled down to Montlucon that night, with some members brave enough to taste a French delicacy of snails.

The day began on Thursday with a trip down to Clermont-Ferrand to attend the Sommet de l’élevage. The Sommet de l’élevage is known as the world’s largest Sustainable Agricultural Show, although there were no cattle at this year’s show due to an infectious skin disease the members had a satisfactory time going around the trade stands and spending time in the international lounge.

Friday morning soon came, and the crew travelled west toward Limoges and the home of Limousin cattle. The Interlim Centre in Lanaud was the first place the group attended, a centre that has been running since 1984 trying to improve the genetics and quality of the Limousin breed. This was an interesting and informative visit while learning about what the centre looks for in the young bulls and how they choose which bulls are selected. We we’re also served wonderful food here created using meat from the cattle on site.

Visiting a Welsh family was the first stop on Saturday’s itinerary, and what a warm Welsh welcome the group received from Dafydd Griffiths and family who have now settled out in the Limgoes area. The group were given a tour of the farm visiting the different sheds and systems and wandering the fields to see the cattle. The highlight of this visit for many was the barbecue that the family and neighbours had prepared for the crew, a feast for the eyes and for the belly! We couldn’t thank the Griffiths family enough for the welcome we received there, I’m sure some members will be back out for another visit soon. The second visit of the day took the crew to a dairy farm that kept native Normandy cows and farmed on 217 acres.

The tour ended in Bordeaux with a wine boat tour on Sunday before the crew had a few hours to wander around the city and pack their bags to head over to the airport and start their journey home!

But this was not the end of the journey for many with the flight out to Birmingham being cancelled while we were at the airport, the group then had to be split in order to get home safely with one group having to fly to Geneva before flying back to Birmingham.

A trip and a half to France that will be remembered for a while!

Wales YFC would like to extend our sincere thanks to the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust for their generous support of our Study Tour. Their contribution has enabled us to provide valuable opportunities and experiences for our members.