15 teams across the Staffordshire YFC clubs took part in the County Dairy Stockjudging Competition, kindly hosted by The Stone Family, Onecote Grange, Onecote on Thursday 7th April and sponsored by HJ Lea Oakes. Teams consisting of six members judged rings of Friesian Dairy Cows, placing them in orders of merit and giving reasons to the master judges.
This skilled competition, one of the many Staffordshire YFC run throughout the year, helps members with observation, their understanding of the make-up of the animal, market demands, communication and presentation skills. The Junior members judge, place and give reasons on 4 animals, the Intermediate members judge, place and give reasons on 6 animals and the Senior members judge, place and give reasons on 4 animals as well as using the linear method of assessing characteristics.
Following two years of no competitions of this type, the members enjoyed a great evening with a high standard of cows to judge. The overall results were a winning team from Waterhouses YFC with Ashley YFC taking second place, and in joint third place, it was Eccleshall YFC; Lichfield YFC and Uttoxeter JNFU. Individually, members will go forward to represent Staffordshire at the NFYFC Finals being held on Friday 15th July at the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate. They will be as follows: Seniors – Mark Whitehurst of Uttoxeter and Vic Astle of Waterhouses; Intermediates – Peter Cotton of Waterhouses YFC and Ruby Oulton of Ashley YFC; Juniors – Tom Bratton of Eccleshall and Tom Gray of Lichfield.
The evening was concluded with the presentation of awards along with refreshments of filled jacket potatoes, kindly sponsored by HJ Lea Oakes.
For photos from the evening, please click here.
On Sunday 24th April Staffordshire YFC will be holding their first Young Stockjudge and Stockman of the Year Competition post pandemic, hosted by kind permission of The Rushton Family, Upper Leese Hill Farm, Kingstone. This year the competitions are also being supported by KiwiKit Roxan as well as prize money on offer which is donated by The Staffordshire and Birmingham Agricultural Society. On the day, competitors will be required to judge 4 rings of animals – Dairy cows, Breeding Ewes, Butchers Lambs and Beef Cattle, placing them in an order and then giving positive comparative reasons to the master judges.
Stockjudging is one of the many competitions organised by Staffordshire YFC and gives members the opportunity to utilise their skills with regards to judging and understanding of the make-up of an animal, market demands, and communication, observation and presentation skills which are transferrable in their future career or education path. During Covid 19 in 2020 and 2021, these competitions did move to a virtual online format, but as with many aspects of YFC, members are really looking forward to getting back together to compete for the certificates and prize money on offer.
Will Roobottom of KiwiKit Roxan said “KiwiKit Roxan Bring New Zealand Solutions to British Farmers, Fencing Contractors and Veterinary Surgeons. Our aim is to provide good quality product that will do the job at the right price with a first-class service to our customers. Young farmers is such a great federation bringing through the next generation of farmers and giving them a skillset enabling them to succeed. We love to do what we can to support them and wish everyone the best of luck in this year’s stockman of the year”
After the competition, a composite team made up of the highest placed competitors in each age category will go forward and represent Staffordshire YFC at the West Midland Area eliminator on being held later in the year, hosted by Worcestershire YFC.
For information about the competition, please click here
Staffordshire YFC are looking forward to holding their first County Dairy Stockjudging Competition post-pandemic on Thursday 7th April by kind permission of The Stone Family, Onecote Grange, Onecote and kindly supported by HJ Lea Oakes. Teams will consist of six members who will be judging rings of Dairy Cows, placing them in orders of merit and giving reasons to the master judges.
This skilled and popular competition, one of the many Staffordshire YFC run throughout the year, helps members with observation, their understanding of the make-up of the animal, market demands, communication and presentation skills. The Junior members judge, place and give reasons on 4 animals, the Intermediate members judge, place and give reasons on 6 animals and the Senior members judge, place and give reasons on 4 animals as well as using the linear method of assessing characteristics. There are entries from all ten clubs in Staffordshire and members have been practising at local farms to hone and refresh their skills ready to take part.
The evening will conclude with filled jacket potatoes and the results announced to see which winning members will go forward to the National Finals of the competition held in July at the Great Yorkshire Show.
Any members taking part, can download the full details by clicking here
Staffordshire Young Farmers Clubs held a spring Tractor Run on Sunday 27th March, in memory of Mr John Meakin. Emily and Isobelle Meakin, John’s daughters who were both past members of Chase Young Farmers approached Staffordshire YFC to help them honour their dad’s memory, as he sadly passed away in March 2021 following a short and aggressive battle with cancer.
John loved tractor runs and ploughing matches from a very young age and during this time as a member of Staffordshire YFC, he loved to attend these kinds of events as well as always getting stuck in at the County Show, particularly with the YFC Show Floats Competition. The JW Meakin Tractor Run, which left Far Coley Farm on Sunday, took 42 tractors through the beautiful Staffordshire countryside passing through Little Haywood, Great Haywood, Hixon, Lea Heath, Kingstone, Admaston and Wolseley Bridges. The event saw many of John’s family and friends turn out for bacon baps and to wave the tractors off and then enjoy celebrating his life afterwards a hog roast. All meat was kindly donated by T G Sargeant and Sons and Paul Sargeant of Bramshall.
Including all the donations, a raffle and tractor entry fees, the total funds raised to date is £1896 which will be equally split between Staffordshire YFC and Katharine House Hospice, who looked after John during his illness. Emily and Isobelle Meakin said “We are completely overwhelmed by the support for the Inaugural J W Meakin Tractor Run. To have over 40 tractors was awesome, and a sight to behold when they left the farm. It really felt like a celebration of our dad’s life and meant so much to us as we couldn’t give him the send-off, he deserved at his funeral due to COVID. Raising money for Katharine House Hospice and Staffordshire Young Farmers was paramount to us. Dad was a vibrant member of Staffordshire Young Farmers all of his life, from the early raucous days, then later sharing his knowledge with the new generations. The tractor run epitomises Dad’s life for us, with tractor’s dating back to the 1940’s, and all through the years, showing history and tradition all the way through to tractors built in 2022. It shows agriculture from every era, and Dad would have loved to see the variety and prestige that the tractors showcased. This event could not have happened without the help and organisation of the Staffordshire Young Farmers, who are such a dedicated committed group of agriculture enthusiasts. We are truly touched how well the run went and everyone’s support.”
Leading the tractor run behind the safety car, Rybrook Landrover, Stoke loaned one of their community cars, a Landrover Defender 90 they had built at the dealership, part of their Heritage Fleet, which also created a lot of interest along the route. Julia Taylor, County Organiser for Staffordshire YFC said “When Emily and Isobelle approached us at Staffordshire YFC to organise the event with them, we were grateful for the opportunity to raise funds for ourselves and such a worthy cause as Katharine House Hospice. It has been a pleasure to help family remember John in such a special way and everyone who helped out, including the YFC team of stewards and bucket collectors really enjoyed the day.”
If anyone would still like to donate, there is a GoFundMe page which will remain open until the presentation for half of the monies raised is made to Katharine House Hospice at the Staffordshire YFC Pre Show Reception on 24th May. The link for this is https://gofund.me/1a8a6dab.
To view all the photos from the day, which were taken by Sally Elkin of Rocester Camera Club, please click here.
After 8 weeks of matches the 2022 Indoor Cricket League has finished with the following results:
1st – Uttoxeter JNFU, 2nd Eccleshall YFC & 3rd Waterhouses YFC
Thanks you to all the stewards and umpires who gave up their time and also Abbotsholme School for hosting.
Photos from the Competition can be found HERE
11 teams travelled to Madeley High School for the ever popular Volleyball Competition, after a hard fought day the results were as follows:
1st – Cheadle B YFC, 2nd – Cheadle A YFC & 3rd – Chase A YFC
Photos from the day can be found HERE
Ten Pin Stafford was the location of this years Pool Competition, 18 teams competed with the results as follows:
1st – Uttoxeter A JNFU, 2nd – Eccleshall A YFC & 3rd – Chase A
Individual results
1st – Sam Griffin – Uttoxeter A JNFU
2nd – Rob Clowes – Waterhouses YFC
3rd – John Scott – Eccleshall A YFC
Click HERE for photos from the night
Well done to the 9 teams who took part, the theme for the competition was to create a four course Gala Dinner celebrating HRH Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. The competition was kindly sponsored by Like Nanna Made. The results were as follows:
1st – Eccleshall YFC
2nd – Uttoxeter B JNFU
3rd – Uttoxeter A JNFU
Staffordshire County Federation of Young Farmers Clubs (SCFYFC) started celebrating their Platinum Anniversary as the leading rural youth organisation in Staffordshire for 70 years, by holding a glamorous Dinner Dance on Saturday 5th March 2022, at the Ingestre Suite, County Showground, Stafford. The evening saw 450 guests including current and past members as well as many supporters of Staffordshire YFC, enjoy a three course Roast Dinner and then socialise and dance to music from The Sound Party Band. A fund-raising raffle and auction were also held on the evening, with the top item of a three-night stay in a holiday cottage in Cumbria fetching over £800. The event sold out within 5 days of tickets being released and all those who attended thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with old and new faces, after two years of events of this type not being held due to the pandemic. In addition to the fundraising for Staffordshire YFC, the auction also had a special donation from Amerton Farm, for an Alpaca Experience Day, which fetched £360 to be donated directly to help those in need in Ukraine.
The tables on the evening held photo displays of former and current throughout the 7 decades showcasing the different types of activities that members can take part in and in The Boden Room next to The Ingestre Suite, there were videos and more photo memorabilia on display to reminisce over.
Currently, the Federation has nearly 650 members across 10 clubs in the County – Abbotsholme, Ashley, Chase, Cheadle, Eccleshall, Leek, Lichfield, Stone, Uttoxeter and Waterhouses. The members who are aged from 10 -28 years enjoy a varied programme of learning activities and competitions including Public Speaking, Tug of War, Cookery, Rural Skills and a wide variety of Sports for all ages. Members can also gain developmental skills via free training and awareness evenings including Mental Health Awareness, Farm Safety, Team Building and Healthy Eating at their club meetings and via the County and National programme. SCFYFC has adapted over the last two years during the pandemic and as a county it continued to deliver activities and competitions including a Virtual “Show Floats Competition, the size of “shoe boxes” and two Virtual Annual Rallies with over 15 competitions in each. Clubs are now looking forward to a much more normal year, with the Annual Rally planned for Saturday 7th May with over 40 competitions taking place at Hall Farm, Pipe Ridware, by kind permission of R J Smith and Son.
County Chairman, Toby Hall said “After what has been a two-year period like no other, it’s amazing to say the next twelve months for Staffordshire YFC are looking very promising and I can’t wait to get started in living the dream! With membership consistently high throughout the clubs, it gives myself as County Chairman great optimism as we look ahead to our landmark days such as the Rally and County Show.”
Photos from the evening were kindly taken by Rocester and District Camera Club and can be viewed by clicking here
