I suppose in the current climate with the world being a pretty unstable place at the moment, it’s been a difficult time for a lot of businesses. That includes the agricultural community, particularly with everything else going on with the single farm payments that have been announced by the Welsh government, and with inheritance tax as well, which will have a huge negative impact on family farmers. Please do not mix up between the very wealthy landowners and your working, family-owned farms. There’s a big difference, and the government’s not taking that into account. It’s a difficult time for farmers at the moment, and that should concern us all, because there’s nothing more important in terms of our own security here in the UK with all the turmoil in the world, than the security of our food. At the moment it seems they are happier to import food of far less quality than we produce here than support our wonderful food producers. I really don’t get it. We’ve seen how events like the war in Ukraine can affect us here in terms of increasing cost, which then has a knock-on effect on the price of grain and food prices and other essentials we rely on them for can then increase more or less overnight. So it’s more important than ever to have that security in the food we produce, and the Royal Welsh brilliantly showcases all that’s good about Welsh, and indeed British, farming. The event is an opportunity to bring people together from all over Wales and farming communities from all walks of life. What’s also important is that it is a place where policies are launched or debated, which is really important for the future of farming across the country. We have a growing population in Wales and the UK, and a growing population needs food. The more we produce here on these shores, the less we rely on food from abroad, which could be switched off overnight. But the importance of the Royal Welsh goes beyond farming for me. It’s an event that’s great for Wales as a whole. It’s a showpiece event. This year was my first time entering a heifer that I have. She came fourth, meaning she didn’t come last, which is the main thing! Hopefully if I keep going another four years, I can maybe end up clinching that first place! It was a bit of a nervous experience for me. I actually probably had more nerves in me than I did from refereeing the World Cup final! But it was a wonderful experience, and I was also judging the young sheep handlers' competition then on the Wednesday, and that was fantastic as well. If you’ve never been to the Royal Welsh, it’s worth going because there’s something there for everybody. You don’t need to be from a farming background to enjoy it there that’s for sure. Funnily enough it was there where I also found out the breaking news of Steve Tandy’s appointment as the next Wales coach. The first thing I think he needs to succeed is time. Rebuilding the Welsh rugby team is not going to happen overnight, and I think it’s actually going to take a few years for us to get back up there. I actually refereed Tandy during his playing days. I always thought he was an underrated player, a workhorse who always put his body on the line for the cause. Then when I refereed some of the teams he coached, I’d often have conversations with him about refereeing issues or certain aspects of the law he might have been coaching. So he’s a really switched on guy when it comes to that. Since leaving the Ospreys he’s worked under Warren Gatland at the Lions, then a stint in Super Rugby, and now Scotland too, so he’s been around a few places in his time, learning different styles and experiences. I think in terms of Wales, it’s nice to have a Welsh coach on board, although that’s not to say I’m against the idea of a foreign coach. He’s a good man and I really hope he helps us turn a corner. But getting back to where we were during the last 15-20 years is going to take time. We’ve got some individually talented players, but we certainly haven't got the abundance of strength in depth that we had back then. He needs time to help build that back up. Whether you think it’s a good appointment or not, let's just hope everyone gets behind him, the team and the Welsh set-up because I do think some people are sometimes looking for reasons to fail before anything’s even started. It’s the empty vessels that often make the most noise sometimes, but I hope he gets the time to put his stamp on it and hopefully turn a corner performance-wise during the autumn and then in the Six Nations. Obviously it would be great if he could somehow build a team capable of winning the Six Nations next year, but I think realistically we need to go back to building that strength in depth before we’re even a part of the conversation again. But let's just hope it’s onwards and upwards from here.