The enthusiasm and passion shown by a group of young farmers from Wales to educate children about the importance of farming will inspire others to do the same.
That’s the view of Red Tractor’s communications manager Philippa Wiltshire after seeing the 15-strong group travel to London to show city children how food is produced.
Led by Glamorgan NFU Cymru county chairman Abi Reader, the Cows on Tour team was supported by Red Tractor who even parked a Massey Ferguson tractor in the playground, leaving 300 kids from Pakemen Primary School in Holloway bursting with excitement.
They split into groups to teach the children about how meat, crops, eggs, fruit and vegetables are produced.
Abi, who has a mixed dairy, livestock and arable farm near Cardiff, said she would like to see other farmers making the most of opportunities to talk to the public
Abi said: “We’ve all got a duty as farmers to market our industry and it should be part of our business plan. If we want to be farming in the future we must take responsibility to get out there and connect with our costumers.
“It puts something in place that makes our industry stronger, that’s the key message.”
The group, which was also supported by Glamorgan Young Farmers Club, appeared on London Live TV and was filmed by BBC’s Newsround programme which is due to air in April.
Philippa said: “We are so impressed with the effort and enthusiasm that the group put in. It was a fantastic day and shows what can be achieved when farmers meet children and the public.
“We have 46,000 farmers who are Red Tractor Assured across all sectors of farming and one thing we get asked a lot is ‘how can I help promote the logo?’.
“In response to this we launched a marketing tool kit in February which gives our members access to free resources like banners, literature and signage.
“They can also book the branded Massey Ferguson tractor to be delivered to a show or event to create an eye-catching centerpiece to any display designed to draw the public in.
