Twenty-one year old Jamie and eighteen year old Richard Jerman from Brilley, near Whitney-on-Wye are celebrating after their lambs were highly placed in their first two major shows.

The brothers, who run a small flock of 25 Beltex and Beltex cross ewes alongside their family's farm flock with a "focus on breeding quality, not quantity", made their first foray into showing at a national level on November 2 at the Borderway Agri Expo in Carlisle, which saw them achieve an impressive third place in their category for Beltex lambs of up to 40kg.

Since then, they have achieved even greater success at one of the most important and most highly regarded events on the agricultural show calendar, the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society's Winter Fair, held on November 26 and 27 at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells, where a Beltex x D Texel pair bred and exhibited by the brothers were awarded the Reserve Champion ticket in the overall sheep championship by judge John Hall.

Richard said: "It was only our second show ever, and our first time exhibiting at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair, but it was only made possible through the knowledge and experience gained from working alongside and showing with Robin Slade for the past four years, and we are both very grateful for what he has taught us."

"It was an absolutely amazing privilege to come in reserve at such a prestigious show", said Jamie.