Friday- Social and Leisure #NationalYoungFarmersWeek

#ThanksToYFC young people all over England have the opportunity to meet like-minded people in the same boat as them!

YFC is so important to young people in the rural community. Sometimes it can be hard for young people from farming backgrounds to find the time to get out and meet new people. Young Farmers brings all of these people together who might not have met each other otherwise and allows them to make great connections and lifelong friends. In rural communities there often isn’t much available for young people and that's where YFC comes in. It provides a place for them to relax, have fun and see their friends on a weekly basis.

There are so many social opportunities for young farmers from weekly meetings to the AGM held in Blackpool or Torquay each year attended by over 6000 of us. Young Farmers gives you the opportunity to try new things with a great bunch of people. Just this year, my club has been skiing, bouldering, bowling and loads more on top of our weekly meetings. You can always rely on young farmers if you’re looking for something to do or somewhere to go... There’s almost always a party or doo on the weekend and then there’s rally and other events throughout the year to attend.

AGM is the biggest event in the calendar, where over 6000 young farmers from all over England head down to the biggest Young Farmers convention for a weekend of socializing, competition and partying. It’s a chance for them to let their hair down and have a break from such a hectic lifestyle.

The NFYFC motto is ‚Fun, Learning, and Achievement‘ and that sums up perfectly what the club is all about... We like to kick back and have fun, but at the same time, it's great to learn new skills and see where it can take you.

If you want to find out what NFYFC can do for you, and where you can go with young farmers, you can check out their website here and get more information. I hope you enjoyed my week of posts celebrating #NationalYoungFarmersWeek and that it has inspired some of you to go sign up to your local clubs!

Thursday- Training and Development #NationalYoungFarmersWeek

#ThanksToYFC clubs have the opportunity to offer training sessions in a variety of areas and can offer specific training to members.

Last membership year, my club along with the other clubs in the Worcestershire county was offered the opportunity to hold a curve training session free of cost to the club, which we could choose from a list of sessions. Available to us were sessions ranging from safeguarding younger members, food for thought (learning about what expiry dates and best before dates really mean), team building activities and much more... Curve training brings a different aspect to the club and allows members to learn a new skill. This is a wonderful opportunity for members to get some training and information, and even qualifications.

We had great fun at our ‚Dream Team‘ session where we learned how to be more successful as a team. We had a presentation and did some activities in groups such as building bridges and we all learned something about working as a team. This was a really useful activity as I think that next year at rally we will be able to take on board the information we learned and work together better, delegating and communicating more efficiently.

There are loads more training opportunities with young farmers such as first aid training, which is useful for jobs, in young farmers and it is a good thing to have every day in life. There are courses available to clubs ranging from butchery to dry stone walling. New club officers have the opportunity to go through train the trainer sessions and club officer training.

In the members only area on the NFYFC website, there are so many discounts available to members. Some of these are training opportunities such as 50% off of ATV training and 10% off towing courses. Members can find these here. 

If you aren’t a member yet but think that you would like to join, you can find more information about becoming a member here.

Wednesday- Competitions #NationalYoungFarmersWeek

#ThanksToYFC young farmers have the opportunity to compete in all sorts of things like traditional rural and agricultural activities, sport, art, life and vocational skills.

Competitions are a massive part of young farmers. Throughout the year there are so many opportunities to learn new skills and take part in a variety of competitions from within the club, in the county and up to national level...

One of the biggest events in the young farmer's calendar is county rally. This is a full day of competitions ranging from the tug of war to cake decorating that anyone can get involved in regardless of experience. It's a great opportunity to develop your skills, there’s always someone willing to help you out or impart words of wisdom before you go and make fun of yourself on stage (there’s lots of this!) or step out on the tug of war field.

In my first year of young farmers, I competed in the junior cookery. I didn’t think  I had much of a chance, but I wanted to have a go and represent my club anyway. As I was a junior, I had to make the starter for the cookery competition. I made poached eggs with asparagus wrapped in parma ham and hollandaise sauce and managed to place 2nd. This meant I would go on to compete at the Royal Three Counties show in Malvern. I managed to come second in this too!

This year I took on more in the way of competing, I cooked again, made a weathervane for the metalwork competition, did face painting and produced the junior exhibit for my club. I had great fun at rally this year and managed to come away from it with a new skill – welding!

I would urge anyone in young farmers to make the most of the competitions available. You always have great fun whether you win or lose, and it's a great thing to be able to take part in.

If you’re not a young farmer (yet!) and you think that it sounds like fun, you can find more information about competing here.

and if you think you might want to join young farmers, you can find information about becoming a member here.

Tuesday- Travel #NationalYoungFarmersWeek

#ThanksToYFC young farmers have the opportunity to travel all over the world for work and fun!

Although the NFYFC operates in England and Wales, that doesn’t mean it stops there! Every year there are several trips available to members, YFC can take you to places such as Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, Uganda and so many more! The possibilities are endless from homestays with families in different countries, work scholarships all over the world, team travel with friends and ski trips, as well as hosting international exchangees.

It is an incredible experience to visit new places as well as experiencing and learning about agriculture in other cultures. Just one example of this is an exchange that takes place with the 4H club in Canada. You can experience what young people on the other side of the world have to do with farming, how it differs from agriculture in the UK, and you can also make amazing connections and friends from experiences you will never forget.

 

Harvest in Canada (photo by Nordstrom Farms)

For those not so willing to hop on a plane and fly across the ocean, there are more local exchanges with clubs within the UK. This enables you to make friends a little closer to home, while still having an exciting adventure and trying something new.

So many people have had great experiences with their #YFCTravel trips. People from my club have been everywhere with YFC from Jersey to New Zealand! Check it out on social media and see the kinds of things you can do.

If you are a young farmer and you want to get involved in the great travel experiences available to you, you can find more information on upcoming trips here. 

Or if you aren’t a young farmer (yet!) and you think this sounds like something you would be interested in, then you can get some information about joining and finding your nearest club here. 

Monday- AGRI #NationalYoungFarmersWeek

#ThanksToYFC young farmers have the opportunity to be involved in AGRI chats and campaigns on a national level.

The NFYFC is an incredible organisation that aims to support its members in a multitude of ways, including giving us a voice on agricultural and rural issues nationally. Through the federation, they aim to promote farm safety (through campaigns such as the yellow wellies farm safety foundation), farming and food production careers, provide training opportunities and resources and so much more.

The #YFCAGRI Steering group also produce a monthly newsletter so you can keep up to date with any key events, pieces of news or opportunities available to you. You can find it here! This month’s issue has some great pieces including a chance to register for the Fertile Minds day – a day full of workshops, speakers and advice for young people (particularly young farmers) looking to go into Business; information about the world ploughing match 2016 (it was hosted around one of the girls in my club’s relative’s farm!) and  a chance to enter Young Agricultural Entrepreneur of the Year (you could win £3000 to invest in your business!)... You can access a year’s worth of these archived on the website and there is some great stuff to read.

NFYFC has so much available to young people in agriculture and now, while there is so much going on, is an incredible time to access it. There are 25,000+ members of the National Federation of Young Farmers who have access to a whole host of resources via the #YFCAGRI Steering group, why not join up yourself and be a part of it!

There are clubs spread throughout 48 counties in England and Wales so to find your nearest club visit this page and get in touch with your local county! They will put you in contact with your nearest club and you can start to see the wonderful opportunities you can have #ThanksToYFC... 

Getting to know me...

I thought I would answer a few questions about myself so you could get to know me more!

1. What is your middle name?: Morgan.

2. What was favorite subject at school?: Well, I’m currently doing Biology, Chemistry, Physics and History at A Level so I guess you could say those are my favourites.

3. What is your favourite drink?: Belvoir Lime and Lemongrass Presse.

4. What is your favourite song at the moment?: Cheap Thrills by Sia.

5. What is your favourite food?: Probably a full English with bacon, sausage, black pudding, a runny egg, beans, potatoes, and toast!

6. What is the last thing you bought?: According to my bank statement, two shirts from Rydale.

7. Favourite book of all time?: It's hard to say my favorite book ever but my favourite book at the moment is Tales from the Tail end by Emma Milne. 

8. Favourite Color?: Navy Blue. I’d say a solid 80% of my wardrobe is navy blue.

9. Do you have any pets?: I have a cat called Oreo and two goats called Will and Harry.

10. Favourite Perfume?: I like the body sprays from Bath and Body works and my favorite at the moment is probably Vineyard Champagne Kiss.

11. Favourite Holiday?: Christmas! I love to see all my family and eat all of the amazing food. We have some Ukranian heritage so we have all of the usual Christmas dishes plus all of the Ukrianian food!

12. Are you married?: Nope I’m only 16!

13. Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times?: I have been to Canada 27 times, America 3 times, Greece 3 times, France once and Spain france.

14. Do you speak any other language?: I speak a bit of Spanish and German to GCSE level.

15. How many siblings do you have?: I have 2 sisters.

17. Favourite restaurant?: My favorite restaurant is probably either Handmade Burger company or Jamie’s.

18. When was the last time you cried?: I can’t remember!

19. Favourite Blog?: A few of my farming/equestrian favourites are Ask Aunt Annie, Terriers and Tweeds, Mammals and Microscopes, Solo Shepherdess and The Lincolnshire Farmgirl. There are more but I just can’t list them all!

20. Favourite Movie?: My favorite movie is probably Sixteen Candles with Molly Ringwald.

21. Favourite TV shows?: Gilmore Girls, Gossip Girl, Heartland, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Great British Bake Off and so many more!

22. PC or Mac?: PC but only because I don't have a mac.

23. What phone do you have?: A black iPhone 6S which has a big, bulky case on it because I'm terrified of breaking it!

24. How tall are you?: Last time I checked about 5“8

25. Can you cook? Yes! I have even done quite well in cookery competitions with young farmers!

YFC Ploughing Match

Today was my young farmers club’s ploughing match. I volunteered to help so I and my parents turned up at 9:30 ready to work. Right from the get-go we were cooking up bacon and selling bacon baps to hungry farmers. I was on tea duty and apparently I don’t put enough milk in the tea! Ooops!

We had 38 entries in total over multiple categories including reverse, classics and horses! It was so interesting to see how all of the ploughmen worked up and down their patch and how straight and neat they could get it.

The horses were amazing to watch. They were so powerful and so precise for such massive animals! The teams were so skilled and I loved seeing them work with the horses to produce a beautifully ploughed plot of land.

We have definitely come a long way from the horses though, with the newer tractors being able to plough in reverse so you don’t even have to turn the tractor around! Although I did like watching this too...

Then inbetween the two there were the classic tractors like the lovely grey fergies and old masseys. These were brilliant to watch, and hear, and lots of them were restored and looked incredible.

Two guys from my club were competing in the reverse ploughing category and they came 1st and 2nd so they did great!

I didn’t have a go but I did get a sit on two very different Massey Fergusons! This one came first in a few categories...

And this one came with a free dog! *not really but I wanted to keep it.

We had a great time and proved that #yfcdoitbest!