At The Great Yorkshire Show on Thursday 11th July, 6 Staffordshire Young Farmers Club (YFC) members competed against the highest ranking Dairy Stockjudgers in the country. After judging a ring of 4 Dairy cows and giving reasons to the Master Judge, Johnathan Wilson of Uttoxeter Young Farmers came 1st in the Senior Section, out of 33 other individuals. His team, consisting also of James Robinson of Lichfield YFC and Peter Cotton of Waterhouses YFC, came 2nd out of 39 teams. This is a massive achievement again for Staffordshire YFC in this very popular competition. Johnathan is in his last year of membership after joining Uttoxeter Young Farmers 13 years ago at the age of 14.
Johnathan Wilson said “Dairy stock judging has always been my favourite YFC competition. To win the NFYFC Dairy Stockjudging at The Great Yorkshire Show has always been a dream that I never thought was possible. I am incredibly happy and shocked to win, especially in my last YFC year made it ever more special. I’ve learnt so much from doing this competition from trainers, judges and fellow competitors and have gained some incredible friends too.”
The cup which Johnathan bought home, The Harold Jackson Perpetual Challenge Trophy, has not been won by a Staffordshire since 1958, so this win has been 61 years in the making too! Competitions are a very important aspect of YFC, offering members new opportunities to develop their confidence, skills and learning. The Dairy Stock Judging Competition is aimed to help members by giving them the opportunity to put their training to the test by judging high quality livestock and presenting their findings to industry experts.
Senior Section – Johnathan Wilson of Uttoxeter JNFU – 1st; Philip Wilson of Uttoxeter JNFU – 8th
Intermediate Section – Peter Cotton of Waterhouses YFC – 9th; Robert Mollatt of Uttoxeter JNFU – 8th
Junior Section – James Robinson of Lichfield YFC – 13th; Heidi Pickford of Waterhouses YFC – 17th
Overall Team – Staffordshire A – Johnathan Wilson, Peter Cotton and James Robinson – 2nd
Overall Team – Staffordshire B – Philip Wilson, Robert Mollatt and Heidi Pickford – 7th
Members of Eccleshall and Uttoxeter Young Farmers Club (YFC) sang their way to second place at the National Federation of Young Farmers (NFYFC) Competitions Day on Saturday 6th July, held locally at the Stafford Showground. The club formed the joint choir made up of a group of 15 members aged between 13 and 27 years, many of whom had not sang in public before, after their success at the West Midlands Area round of this competition. They have been practising for many hours with the enthusiastic guidance of Eccleshall members Imogen Bloxham and Harriet Wilson, who choreographed the two singing pieces, one of which had to be from the Top 40 singles from 1st January 2018 to 1st January 2019 and the second piece could be of the teams own choice. The team sang “I’ll be There” by Jess Glynne and then in contrast, “Africa” by Toto, both of which were very originally performed including some solo sections and six very bright umbrellas as props. The national competition was marked with the following criteria: Choice of Programme; Accuracy and Intonation; Quality and Balance; Interpretation; Overall Ensemble and Presentation; Appropriateness and Creativity of Movement. The team scored 207 marks out of a possible 240 and were only 5 marks away from the first placed team, Devon YFC.
Harry Bowers, Club Chairman of Eccleshall YFC said “It has been great to see how the members from two clubs have all come together. The final performance showcased our weeks of hard work and we have come such a long way since the county competition back in November last year.”
Competitions are a very important aspect of YFC, offering members new opportunities to develop their confidence, skills and learning. The Choir Competition is aimed to help members learn new performance techniques, develop musical skills and experience singing to a large audience which, on Saturday, was over 400 members, supporters and associates of YFC from across the country.
NFYFC Choir Finals – Eccleshall and Uttoxeter – 2nd
NFYFC Clay Pigeon Shooting Finals (26 and under) – Sam Down of Uttoxeter – 2nd and Max Standerwick of Lichfield – 5th
NFYFC Clay Pigeon Shooting Finals (17 and under) – Robert Rowlinson of Leek – 9th
NFYFC Clay Pigeon Shooting Finals (Ladies Scores) – Katie James of Leek – 4th and Maisie Grew of Eccleshall – 9th
Staffordshire Young Farmers Clubs (YFC) are pleased to announce that their varied and active programme of competitions available to all members is being further supported by HSKS Greenhalgh Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, who have an office in Uttoxeter and are sponsoring the Competition Certificates for two years from 1st September.
Staffordshire YFC has organised and ran 20 separate competitions across the county already since January this year, with the Annual Raft Race concluding the year 2018/19 to see who will be crowned the winning club of the Overall Competitions Cup at the Annual General Meeting in November. When the new membership year for Staffordshire YFC starts again on 1st September, there will be a further 19 competitions held up until December. In addition to this, the federation organises an Annual Rally in May which has a further 40 competitions all held on one day!
As Hannah Bain, Associate Director at HSKS Greenhalgh explains, the firm are delighted to be supporting Staffordshire Young Farmers. Says Hannah: “Having been a member of Young Farmers myself, and a previous competition winner, I have experienced first-hand the important role that Young Farmers plays in the local community. It not only provides an opportunity for young people to socialise, but to also learn new skills, whether these be just for fun or with a view to future employment opportunities. As a firm we already support the farming and agricultural community by providing tax, accounting and business advice to many local businesses, and we feel that this sponsorship is a great way of extending that support to include the next generation”.
Polly Baines, County Chairman of Staffordshire YFC said “As a charitable organisation we are reliant on sponsorship and donations in order to continue to provide the great service and opportunities to our members. Therefore, we really appreciate companies like HSKS Greenhalgh Chartered Accountants, who have chosen to support Staffordshire YFC, and the future generation of the rural community in this way.”
Being a member of Staffordshire YFC can offer anyone aged 10 – 26 years the opportunity to take part in such a variety of competitions including Public Speaking, Stockjudging, Go Karting, Raft Racing, Tug of War, Floral Art, Sports and back again for the fourth year running this November, even Cheerleading! Some of these will lead to members going head to head with fellow members from across the West Midlands Area of YFC’s and in some cases, even reaching the National Finals. Eccleshall Young Farmers are one club who are no stranger to National finals and on the weekend of Saturday 6th July, some of their members along with members of Uttoxeter JNFU are competing in the National Show Choir Competition. In addition to this, Waterhouses YFC have just taken part in the West Midlands Area round of the Male Tug of War Competition at The Three Counties Show, defending their winning title from last year and will now go head to head and compete with the countries strongest teams at the National Finals which are held on Saturday 3rd August at Tenbury Show in Worcestershire.
Waterhouses YFC winning at The Three Counties Show.
Junior – Staffordshire A – Cheadle YFC (4th)
Ladies – Staffordshire A – Stone/Waterhouses YFC (3rd) & Staffordshire B – Eccleshall (6th)
Mens – Staffordshire A – Waterhouses YFC (1st) & Staffordshire B – Stone (3rd)
George Goodwin of Waterhouses YFC – 5th
Alicia Smith of Chase YFC – 7th
Staffordshire YFC are looking ahead to the new membership year and will recruit a new team of County Officers at the Executive Meeting which is held on 14th November 2019 at the YFC Centre. This years team of officers will be a very hard act to follow, with their enthusiasm and team work in abundance, reflected in the success of “Give Cancer the Boot” which raised over £8000 for Cancer Research and a very popular and bustling marquee at the recently held Staffordshire County Show – to name just a few events. With over 25 County Competitions and the Annual Rally hosting a further 38 competitions on the day, there is always something to do and somewhere to be!
Being a County Officer requires so many qualities, but the most important are to have a LOVE of all things YFC with an abundance of enthusiasm, being able to work as part of a team, be hardworking, act responsibly and to strive to ensure that Staffordshire YFC is successful in all that it sets out to achieve!
All clubs have been sent a County Officers Nomination Form which is due into the YFC Office by 2nd September. Full details can be found here on the positions available along with a list of current officers. If any current members are keen to get involved, do talk to current County Officers about the roles and what is involved and then make sure your club adds your name onto the nomination paper and returns it to the office no later than 2nd September.
3rd Place – Staffordshire B (Uttoxeter Young Farmers – Sam Down, Charlie Down and Sam Froggatt)
4th Place – Staffordshire A (Chase Young Farmers – James Freeman, Will Freeman and Jack Martin)
Staffordshire Young Farmers take the main ring at the County Show by storm again this year, on Thursday 30th May. They held their annual Young Farmers’ Show Float Competition with the theme this year being “Disney Films”, which meant for plenty of construction, colour and fun on each float as they created some of the most well know Disney Films! 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 Stone Young Farmers who created scenes from the 1993 film, “Cool Runnings!” With the classic chant of “Feel the Rhythm! Feel the Rhyme, get on up its Bobsleigh time “, members got well and truly into the Winter Olympic spirit both in voice and with their costumes. Second place was awarded to Eccleshall YFC who recreated the film “Up”, complete with the house and balloons to depict this heart-warming film from 2009. In third place was Ashley YFC again this year, who bought the classic film “Jungle Book” to the main ring. Their float had that jungle feel to it with costumes and animals galore. Fourth place was awarded to Waterhouses YFC for their depiction of the children’s favourite, “Cars!” Lightening McQueen and the rest of the pals were all on the float along with a few novelty toys to entertain the crowds!
Waterhouses 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, who did Pirates of the Caribbean as the runners up. This part of the competition was judged by Mr & Mrs P Atkin, Vice Chairman and Mr & Mrs S Clarke, Vice President of the Staffordshire & Birmingham Agricultural Society.
Members on the Show Floats from nine clubs entertained the huge crowds and judges as they circled the Main Ring. Staffordshire YFC thoroughly enjoy providing this entertainment to the general public and raising their profile, as a rural youth organisation which is all about fun, teamwork, learning and opportunities for anyone aged 10 to 26 years. They also enjoyed 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 “Best of British” 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, Polly Baines commented that “We have had a great two days at the County Show promoting what YFC is all about. The Show Floats were a fantastic and impressive display of skills including artwork, construction and obviously teamwork for months beforehand. We have attracted a brilliant crowd of supporters of all ages which makes for a lovely atmosphere at the show. All the clubs have worked so hard towards this week and this has definitely paid off.”
Click HERE for photos from the competition
