Flock to the Show: Scotland gets set for the return of the Golden Shears to this year's Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh
The Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing & Woolhandling Championships is set to return to the Royal Highland Show from 22 to 25 June.
More than 35 countries are expected to take part in the competition showing off their sheep-shearing and woolhandling speed and skills to become the next world champion.
Celebrating the highly-anticipated event, Flock to the Show is an art trail of decorated sheep sculptures now touring Scotland.
The Scotsman is delighted to be the media partner for both events.
To win a VIP Royal Highland Show experience and find out more visit royalhighlandshow.org
Meet the artist
Cumbria-born Alasdair, known as Als, grew up in a farming community before moving north to study biology at St Andrews.
With a flair for creating brands, he worked as a freelance graphic designer and started to develop his own unique style of modern digital artwork in his spare time.
Moving to Edinburgh, Als is now a full-time artist, creating artworks inspired by the things he loves, including fun animal breed prints, agricultural paintings, and photography.
With a wealth of experience working with a range of organisations, Als also works with local businesses.
He says: “My sheep breeds design is inspired by old-school livestock breed posters of British farm animals that I had on my wall as a child.
“I wanted to create a modern and fun update of these that celebrates the diversity of sheep breeds found across the UK.
“I hope it provides a fun way for folk to learn about the amazing variety of sheep breeds we have and pick their favourites!”
The Breeds by Alasdair Couzens
This raises awareness of Scottish rural communities’ efforts to enhance our rich biodiversity with conservation measures.
These include habitat restoration, planting native species, and promoting sustainable land management practices.
They also work with local authorities and conservation organisations to raise awareness of biodiversity issues and encourage community involvement.
Scottish agriculture has increasingly recognized the importance of biodiversity for sustainable farming and rural communities.
Approaches taken include the restoration and creation of habitats for wildlife, such as planting hedgerows, and creating ponds and wetlands.
As well as these activities, agri-environment schemes – which may provide financial incentives for farmers to adopt biodiversity-friendly land management practices – have been important tools in promoting conservation on farms.
Meet the sponsor
Established in 1950, British Wool is a farmer organisation representing 35,000 sheep farmer members and has a network of depots located across the UK.
Its main objective is to maximise the value of wool to all members and provide a high level of service through collection, grading, testing, and selling through auction.
British wool is a high-quality performing fibre that can be used in a range of products, including apparel, carpets, bedding, insulation, and knitwear.
This campaign gives us the chance to support and raise awareness of the variety of UK breeds and characteristics of the many different wool types produced.
We use this as a way to promote and tell the story of the history and heritage of our breeds, and that of British wool.
Find your fleece
Locate today’s sheep and access our VIP competition to win free parking, hospitality, and lots more by following this link.