Major Andrew Butcher MBE will officially open this year’s Royal Welsh Show as Brecknock takes centre stage as the event’s 2026 Feature County.

The opening ceremony will take place at 10am on Monday, July 20, in the Council Area, marking the start the four-day show.

Major Butcher’s selection is seen as particularly fitting during Brecknock’s Feature County year due to his long-standing links with the area through his role at Sennybridge Defence Training Estate and his connections with the Epynt and surrounding rural communities.

He joined the Grenadier Guards in 1986 and has served in Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan during a military career spanning four decades.

Alongside operational service, he has taken part in a number of major state occasions, including Trooping the Colour, the State Opening of Parliament and State Visits.

Major Butcher is currently serving in his final military appointment as Senior Training Safety Officer at Sennybridge Defence Training Estate, where he oversees the safe use of the 31,000-acre training area. The role involves close work with local graziers and the wider community.

Royal Welsh Agricultural Society president for 2026, Gethin Havard, said he was “immensely honoured” that Major Butcher had agreed to open the show.

Mr Harvard said: “As a resident of the Senni Valley and someone raised on a farm, he brings a genuine understanding and appreciation for the challenges and values that define our rural way of life.

“Through his daily involvement with the Epynt Firing Ranges, working closely with both graziers and service personnel, he stands at the meeting point of two sectors that are fundamental to our nation’s wellbeing - agriculture and defence.”

Major Butcher is married to Wendy and has two daughters. In his spare time he enjoys walking his Border Terriers, Ted and Angus, on the Epynt and painting landscapes in oils.