Well done to all competitors who took part over the weekend, Chase YFC and Lichfield YFC represented Staffordshire in the Cookery Competiiton.
In the Floral Art the following members took part.
Junior – James Robinson (Lichfield YFC) & Lucy Clayton (Uttoxeter JNFU)
Intermediate – Hannah Britland (Uttoxeter JNFU)
Senior – Phillippa Bourne (Stone YFC)
Well done to Phillippa Bourne who came 3rd in her class!
Four teams braved the wet weather to take part in the County Fence Erecting Competition, this year kindly hosted by Uttoxeter District Agricultural Society. The results were:
1st – Chase YFC, 2nd – Uttoxeter JNFU, 3rd – Eccleshall YFC, 4th – Waterhouses YFC
A prize fund of over £700 is on offer in the Young Farmers’ Stock and Carcase judging Competitions at this year’s English Winter Fair, Stafford, thanks to backing by AHDB (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board – Beef and Lamb). Teams from across the Country will be competing in the Stock and Carcase Judging competitions, held at the English Winter Fair on Sunday 18th November along with the NFYFC Live and Carcase Judging two day competition over the weekend.
The teams made up of 8 members will be judging Live Beef, Live Lamb, Lamb and Pork Carcase on Sunday 18th November from 9.30am. The Secretary for the Young Farmer Classes, Mrs Julia Taylor explained, “Young Farmers will be able to judge the Beef and Pork Carcase in the purpose-built Carcass Hall, which is a fantastic facility available to us thanks to support from AHDB and the show’s organisers, the Staffordshire & Birmingham Agricultural Society.”
Young Farmers will pit the skills picked up in county rounds of the YFC’s Stock and Carcase competitions against others in this nationwide event to secure prizes. “It is a great way for members to test their skill at judging stock on the hoof and on the hook. Each team is given 10 minutes to assess stock and then two minutes to give reasons to the panel of judges for their choices. It is always a popular date on the YFC calendar and well supported by counties across the country” adds Mrs Taylor.
In addition to cash prizes YFC teams will also compete for the Birmingham Agricultural Exhibition Society silver cup for the team accumulating most points which last year went to Warwickshire YFC.
This year again there will be a 3 course meal being held in the Boden Room, exclusively for YFC members followed by entry into the Herdsman’s Supper Disco entry for only £10 on the evening before the competitions, Saturday 17th November. This evening is also kindly supported by Bagshaws Auctioneers.
Young Farmers attending the event will also be able to see the Show’s championships take place in the main arena in Bingley Hall as well as witness the spectacle of the grand auction of prize-winning animals from both the live arena and Carcass Hall on Sunday afternoon.
For details on how to enter your County team, please click here
Staffordshire Young Farmers Clubs (YFC) held a very successful Charity Beer Festival outside their YFC Office which is based on the County Showground at Stafford on Saturday 30th June. The Federation were blessed with the run of warm weather and festival goers basked in sunshine as they listened to singers and bands and enjoyed some of the 15 beers and ciders on offer. The event was held to raise money for Young Minds, the leading mental health charity for young people and was the idea of Richard Mottershead, County Chairman of Staffordshire YFC.
The Clubs in Staffordshire YFC have been fundraising for Young Minds since March this year, with a campaign entitled #oatcakeontour! The campaign involves a Giant 4 ft round Oatcake (made from wood), which “toured” around the 11 YFC Clubs in the county. Each club has held a fundraising event, ranging from Quizzes, BBQ’s, a Whist Drive and even taking the Oatcake for a ride on a Steam Engine! Leek YFC raised a grand total of £1200 by holding a Quiz Night back in April along with braving the blazing sunshine on Saturday, and walking 26 miles down to the Beer Festival at Stafford from Leek. With some sore feet, the members were glad to take off their boots and enjoy a chilled beverage.
The final club to host the #oatcakeontour, Stone YFC, went one step further – literally! They met at the County Showground on Saturday morning at 3am, leaving Stafford in a minibus and heading to Wales to tackle Mount Snowdon – complete with the wooden Oatcake which had some customised handles fitted to make the task of taking it to the top a little easier! Again, they braved the warm weather and were grateful of the breeze at the peak. Stone YFC raised £1000 on their mission and were very happy to reach the final destination of the Charity Beer Festival back in Stafford on Saturday evening.
Richard Mottershead, County Chairman said “It was so great to see Staffordshire YFC members of all ages past, present and future come along to support us and Young Minds. We had a fantastic family fun day with a bouncy castle, ice cream, live music and a great selection inside the beer tent, so there was something for everyone. I am so proud to call myself the County Chairman Staffordshire YFC. All the club’s have rallied together to raise money for the #oatcakeontour campaign. It was brilliant to welcome members from all over the country coming to enjoy the music and atmosphere including members from Cornwall, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and Wales whilst they were competing at the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs Competitions Day.”
Championing mental health is one of the campaigns which the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs encourage YFC counties to do. Their campaign, Rural Plus, provides information and tools to encourage YFC to become a strong support network for rural young people who may experience rural isolation and mental health issues. An evening is available for all clubs to hold, which aims to raise awareness of mental health and rural isolation issues that young people may face living in rural areas and where to turn for support.
Combined with the event on Saturday, Staffordshire Young Farmers have raised over £6500 for Young Minds with their campaign. The money will be presented to Young Minds at the SCFYFC County AGM which is being held on Friday 9th November.
For all the photos from the day, click here
Teams from around Staffordshire YFC took part in the West Midlands Area of YFC’s Male and Female Tug of War Competitions at the Three Counties Show on Sunday 17th June. Also teams took part in the Junior (12 – 17 years) Tug of War which was also held on the same day including a team from the newly formed Cheadle YFC.
Following a great competitions, the results were as follows:
Junior Competition: 3rd Place – Staffordshire A (Waterhouses YFC)
Ladies Competition: 1st Place – Staffordshire A (Stone YFC), 3rd Place – Staffordshire B (Eccleshall YFC)
Mens Competition: 1st Place – Staffordshire A (Waterhouses YFC)
The teams from Waterhouses and Stone will now go forward to take on the rest of the Country at the NFYFC Finals which are held on Saturday 4th August at Tenbury Show in Worcestershire.
Staffordshire YFC are very pleased to announce that there are two places available for The Oxford Farming Conference 2019 again, kindly supported by The Staffordshire and Birmingham Agricultural Society. Members are invited to send over their application, which is quite simply a piece of written work entitled “Why I should be chosen to attend The Oxford Farming Conference” in no more than 500 words.
The deadline for applications is Monday 17th September 2018 and the successful members will be announced at the County Executive Committee Meeting which is held on Thursday 20th September 2018.
For full details on how to apply please click HERE
Full details about the Oxford Farming Conference, which runs from 3rd – 4th January 2019, can be found on their website here.
Staffordshire Young Farmers take the main ring at the County Show by storm again this year, on Thursday 31st May. They held their annual Young Farmers’ Float Competition with the theme this year being “British Sitcoms”, which meant for plenty of construction, colour and fun on each float as they created some of the most well know sitcoms on TV! The sponsor of the competition, BD Fuels of Hixon kindly judged the floats before and during their journey into the main ring of the County Showground. This prestigious competition, the highlight of the YFC calendar and one of the most popular ran by Staffordshire Young Farmers, draws the largest crowd to the main ring when the floats, which have been worked on for many months, take to the parade. The Overall Float Competition was won by Uttoxeter Young Farmers who were depicting “Blackadder” on their float. It had plenty of characters dressed in full wartime costume and superb detailed scenery to match. Second place was awarded to Stone Young Farmers who recreated the classic sitcom, Porridge. Their float was two storey with the prison cells on both levels and plenty of “Fletcher” and “Godber” actors filling the float! In third place was Ashley Young Farmers whose float was “Dad’s Army” gave great scenery and young farmers dressed in boiler suit uniform! Fourth place was awarded to Chase YFC who had “Allo, Allo” as their theme. Some great costumes and their young members interpreted French/German based sitcom really well.
Stone Young Farmers were awarded the Best Name Board Shield for their well designed and colourful sign and they were closely followed by Uttoxeter Young Farmers as the runners up. This part of the competition was judged by Mr & Mrs R Bourne, Vice Chairman and Mr & Mrs R Nield, Vice President of the Staffordshire & Birmingham Agricultural Society.
Members on the Show Floats from all eleven clubs entertained the crowds and judges as they circled the Main Ring in glorious sunshine. The members thoroughly enjoy providing this entertainment to the general public and raising their profile. They also enjoyed cooling off with a great water fight at the end which is the most favourite part for the members.
Staffordshire YFC has had an amazing two days at this year’s County Show. Their “Magic & Mystery” themed marquee has been full with people over the two days as members have put on a full programme of activities and competitions for everyone to enjoy. County Chairman, Richard Mottershead commented that “We have had a great two days at the County Show promoting what YFC is all about. The Show Floats attracted a brilliant crowd of supporters of all ages. All the clubs have worked so hard towards this day and this has definitely paid off.”
Take a look at the photos HERE
All 11 clubs had been working for months putting together their floats to the theme ‘British Sitcoms’, the sun shone on the Thursday of Stafford County Show and the water fight was enjoyed by all. The results from the competition were:
Overall Float
1st – Uttoxeter JNFU, 2nd – Stone YFC, 3rd – Ashley YFC
Best name Board
1st – Stone YFC, 2nd – Uttoxeter JNFU
Please take a look at the photos HERE
After a brilliant first day at the County Show, Staffordshire Young Farmers held their Male and Female Tug of War in the Main Ring on Wednesday evening. A great crowd of supporters from across the County and other clubs also turned out in force in the Grandstand to watch a hard fought competition. Many of the teams have been training three times a week since before Christmas and their hard work and efforts paid off.
Following a great standard of pulling, in hard ground conditions, Waterhouses YFC men’s team beat Eccleshall YFC to the 1st place position. Eccleshall YFC were the runners-up and Stone YFC took 3rd.
For the ladies teams, Stone YFC stormed to victory coming in first place. The results ended with Stone YFC taking home the silverware on the night, Eccleshall YFC in 2nd place and Uttoxeter JNFU in 3rd place.
The 1st and 2nd placed teams from each competition will now go forward to the West Midlands Round of the competition at The Three Counties Show, Malvern on Sunday 17th June.
The Wednesday of the County Show saw clubs from around the County compete for the Tug of War silverware, the results were:
Male
1st – Waterhouses YFC, 2nd – Eccleshall YFC, 3rd – Stone YFC
Female
1st – Stone YFC, 2nd – Eccleshall YFC, 3rd – Uttoxeter JNFU
Take a look at the photos HERE
