National Federation of Young Farmers Club's young farm business entrepreneurs give judges food for thought

Pembrokeshire YFC’s team of Andrew Rees and Peter Richards saw off stiff competition and gave the expert judges food for thought with their winning entry in this year’s NFYFC Farm Business Development competition.

The business-savy 25-year-olds from Tiers Cross YFC took the judging panel completely by surprise with their proposal for a dairy farm which involved the innovative idea of renting in the dairy herd.

Andrew and Peter impressed judges from the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA), Savills, NFYFC and the previous year’s competition winners with their detailed research into the scheme, which they felt was the best business model for this year’s case study farm.

Cumbria YFC’s Graham Lambert and Joanne Bentham took second place with their proposal based on dairy, beef and sheep enterprises and diversification via holiday cottages and DIY livery.

Chris Jones, from Northamptonshire, took third place, and was also the winner in the non-YFC category of the competition which was opened up to non-YFC agricultural students and Fresh Start Academy members for the first time this year. Chris’s business proposition was for an Aberdeen Angus forage-based growing and finishing unit, plus DIY livery, shoot and renewable energy enterprises.

The competition is designed to give tomorrow’s tenants a dry run in applying for a farm tenancy and involves viewing a case study farm, submitting a detailed business plan and facing a rigorous interview panel.

The TFA’s chief executive and competition judge George Dunn said: ’This year’s entries were very high quality and it is really pleasing to see how the quality has consistently increased over the years.

’The judges had a very difficult choice to make but the team from Pembrokeshire put forward a very strong business case at interview, plus we were able to examine for evidence of personal development as they entered and came second last year.

’Peter and Andrew also came up with something none of the judges had heard of before ’ the idea of renting in dairy cows ’ and provided evidence, legal agreements and showed they had done their homework and research thoroughly by being quick to answer questions on the scheme.

’For a young farmer getting started, having the capital to invest is a big barrier so their idea really is very interesting and something we can explore. Worthy winners indeed.’

Andrew Rees said: ’We are thrilled to have won. Having come second last year we were determined to win this time. We drew on feedback from the judges in last year’s competition and also from entering a similar competition at county level in the spring and used it to improve our performance.

’Basically the case study farm lent itself to a dairy set-up as the equipment was in place and the idea of contract hiring in a herd was a way of helping retiring or current farmers while also helping new entrants overcome the hurdle of lack of investment capital.

’Both Peter and I are dairy farming with our fathers so the time and effort spent on costings and business planning for the competition will also be very useful to us on a daily practical basis. This competition is hugely important because it really does help an actual young farmer because what you learn in the process of the competition equips you with the ability and confidence to look at things in a fresh light.

’We are really looking forward to going to the Oxford Farming Conference, which will be another fantastic opportunity from this and the whole thing has been an invaluable experience all round.’

As well as scholarships for the 2012 Oxford Farming Conference, the YFC category winners receive points for the NFU challenge Cup, membership of the TFA and NFYFC awards, and are also asked to join the industry experts on the interview panel for next year’s competition.

The winner of the non-YFC category will be awarded an Oxford Farming Conference scholarship and the members of the second team also receive NFYFC awards.

The judging took place at the Royal County of Berkshire Show, Newbury.