It's rally time for East Yorkshire's young farmers

Wonderful native breed Red Poll cattle provide the greeting to the home of Andrew and Dorothy Prescott whose family farm enterprise across nearly 900 acres includes a further farm nearby at the Scorborough home of Andrew’s parents Stephen and Yvonne. Dorothy is looking forward to the latest influx of club members adorned in their respective club colours in May.

“You meet some really nice young people that you wouldn’t probably get to know otherwise. The second time we had the rally here the chairman spent so much time with us beforehand that he almost became our adopted son.”

Families have always been the bedrock of the Young Farmers movement over the years and both Andrew’s parents came together through the organisation and so too did he and Dorothy, as members of Bainton YFC. This year’s rally chairman Steve Butler and his girlfriend Annabel Prescott met the same way. They are both now with Market Weighton YFC as Annabel swapped allegiance from Bainton to Steve’s home club. Annabel is Andrew and Dorothy’s niece.

While marriages have been made and the family spirit still exists in the organisation with older generations taking up club leader positions and other roles such as club presidencies, Steve has seen a trend developing in more recent times that he and others are keen to assuage.

“Young Farmers is still getting couples together and I’d say that at least once a year there’s a marriage that takes place between partners who have met through the clubs, but I’d say less parents now come along to events like the County Rally than when I first started. We all know that times change, as do families and the way children are brought up. This year we’ve tried to make the whole rally more family focussed and we’d like to think we can get the numbers up to about 600 including competitors and spectators.

“We’re immensely grateful to Andrew and Dorothy for hosting the rally once again. It’s a real privilege to work with them. We come up with some new idea, mention it to them and within minutes it’s all agreed and where on the farm it should be held. They see so many of us before rally day too as each club has to take part in preparations at the farm and they lose points at the rally if they don’t.”

The East Riding Federation of Young Farmers Clubs county rally is organised by a different group of clubs each year. These are known as clusters and 2017 brings the turn of the Crossgate Cluster that includes the clubs of Market Weighton, Bainton, Beverley and Beacon. The movement is one of the UK’s largest youth organisations and East Yorkshire has held its own since suffering a dip, in common with many other federations, in the 1990s.

“Our membership numbers are looking good,” says Steve. “Market Weighton YFC presently has 45 members and we get a turnout of around 25-30 every club night. I’d say ours are about two-thirds farming stock but you don’t have to be a young farmer to be in young farmers. Having a good time is what it’s all about and if you learn new skills that’s a bonus. I’ve seen a lot of young members be really quiet when they first join but within a year they’re outgoing and enjoying everything with the rest of us.”

One set of events that no longer happens on rally day is the archetypal young farmers’ stockjudging competitions.

“They are now held in the weeks beforehand. It’s a logistical thing and is all related to stock licence movements, but it also helps those members who are involved in multiple competitions when they may also be needed for everything from Land Rover handling to bricklaying, taking part in Stars in Their Eyes, cookery or drinking a yard of ale!”

Steve’s grandfather farmed at Arras Hill. He works with agronomy advisers Agrovista and has been involved with young farmers since he was 13. He’s been Market Weighton chairman four times and has competed at the rally for many years but he has now been dropped from the tug o’ war team.

“Yes I’ve got the build for it but I’ve been substituted this year. The team has gone for two smaller members rather than one big one!”

East Riding Federation of Young Farmers Clubs County Rally takes place at Wold House near Lund on May 13.

FINE PEDIGREE

Andrew and Dorothy farm with son Ben at Wold House. They are growing wheat varieties Skyfall, Crusoe and Illustrious this year across just over 300 acres. Their wheat is currently going into Vivergo’s bioethanol plant in Saltend near Hull.

Other crops include spring barley, winter barley, oilseed rape, linseed, beans, oats and grass.

The Red Poll cattle herd runs to around 250-260 head from 120 breeding cows. Andrew’s father Stephen is one of the world’s most well respected breeders, while Ben has started a Lleyn flock that currently numbers 170 breeding ewes.