Farming Talk: The work continues for Shropshire YFC
As Max Porter, our county chairman, ventures nearer his biggest event of the year – the Chairman’s Ball on Saturday, August 24, his year in the role is set to come to an end.
For me, that means everything is about to get a little busier as I take on the county chairman reins.
But, in true YFC style, we all thrive on being busy! Our county rally in July saw members compete in numerous competitions from bricklaying, stock judging to speed flower arranging and the water obstacle course.
A fantastic day was had by all, with Brown Clee YFC taking the champion title again.
The same day saw members competing at the NFYFC finals at Stafford in public speaking and clay pigeon shooting.
We’ve had teams entered in the West Midland Area Stockman of the Year competition, with our senior team placing second, our junior team coming first and individual junior member Beckie from Whittington and Oswestry YFC, coming first.
The Whitchurch YFC Ladies got through to the National Tug of War finals held at Tenbury Show. They did a fantastic job, and all our members have done Shropshire proud.
The show circuit for YFC has been keeping us all busy.
Newport Show saw members interviewing Olly Bloggs, while Burwarton Show saw local YFCs working together to organise our tent.
Whittington and Oswestry YFC were busy with Oswestry Show and Rea Valley YFC had a fun-filled day at Minsterley Show, at its new venue. We are looking forward to the autumn months as we celebrate SFYFC’s 80th birthday on October 19 and our AGM on October 26.
New for this year, we will be hosting a rural careers fair on Thursday, November 7 at Shrewsbury Livestock Market.
This is something I am very passionate about as there are so many jobs in the agricultural and food industry.
At school I was never exposed to the jobs available. I knew about them due to growing up on the family farm and being involved with young farmers.
I went to Harper Adams University to study food, but it wasn’t until I got to university that I had my eyes opened to the array of jobs available – the world needs feeding!
So I hope that by having this rural careers fair for all ages, we will be able to showcase numerous jobs available and encourage young people to enter the industry.
We will also be returning with our Charity Illuminated Tractor run in conjunction with RABI and my other chosen charities on Sunday, December 15.
We’ll have our craft fair and even Father Christmas will be visiting us too!
If you want to keep up to date on our latest news and events, follow our Facebook or Instagram pages – @ShropshireYFC and if you would love to join your local YFC, please visit www.sfyfc.org.uk or contact our County Office on 01743 442880.
by Millie Preece, County Vice Chairman of Shropshire YFC
