After 32 years at the helm of one of Britain’s biggest sheep sales, Jane Smith is stepping down – marking the end of an era for the NSA Wales & Border Ram Sales.
The executive director of the sales has announced she will bow out of her full-time role, having overseen thousands of sales, navigated crises and welcomed royalty to the Royal Welsh Showground.
Jane vividly remembers arriving for her first main sale in 1993. Faced with 9,000 rams to be penned, buyers and vendors to be organised, and 22 marquees to coordinate, even her extensive experience in international motor racing logistics left her feeling daunted.
She said: “It’s still very, very clear in my mind. I drove around that roundabout and I absolutely saw the enormity of it. I thought, oh my gosh, what have you done here.
“There were marquees everywhere, about 22 plus the administration tent. There were men running about with hurdles and I just thought, I have no idea what I’m doing here. I didn’t know that much about sheep and I certainly didn’t know anything about auctions.
“I had a good grounding in logistics and organising things, but this was a whole gamechanger. When I saw those marquees I wondered how I was going to get through it.
"But we did get through it and the second year was almost worse, because I knew what to expect.”
Over the years Jane has managed the sale through foot-and-mouth in 2001 and the pandemic, during which she herself suffered a serious illness. Among the highlights was the visit of the Princess Royal in 2018, marking the sale’s 40th anniversary.
Her Royal Highness presented Jane with a framed photograph of her with her favourite horse, Zeb – a memory she says she treasures.
Reflecting on the demands of the job, Jane says expectations have risen dramatically: “I couldn’t have done then what I do now. I wouldn’t have had the experience," she said.
“It’s very, very different now. People expect so much more. They expect a much higher standard of presentation and penning.
"Peoples’ expectations of a sale venue have changed dramatically over the years, and we now aim to deliver a sale where rams worth many thousands of pounds can be shown off properly to prospective purchasers.
“In the old days if we had a wet sale we would be propping up the roofs of the tents and trying to divert water away from the sheep.”
Jane is now preparing her successor, Helen Fairclough-Watling, who will take over much of the responsibility next year.
She leaves behind a sale that continues to thrive with a turnover exceeding £2 million, a vital boost for the Mid Wales economy.
But for Jane, the true legacy is not only the sale’s financial success but also its role in improving the Welsh flock, putting Wales firmly on the international sheep-breeding map, and providing a meeting place for generations of farmers.
As she steps back, Jane says it is the friendships, the community, and the spirit of the ram sales that she will cherish most.
