Bespoke carved trophy for The Yorkshire Post’s Farmer of the Year

The experienced craftsman has been carefully creating this stunning oak trophy for The Yorkshire Post in his Pateley Bridge workshop and it will next be seen in the hands of a winning farmer at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate.

It will be the winner of The Yorkshire Post’s inaugural Farmer of the Year Award, run in association with Andersons, the farm business consultants, who will clutch the trophy at an award presentation on the opening day of the event, on Tuesday, July 14.

Mr Hayton, 60, first took up woodwork aged 15 and went on to work with wood for a joiner at a funeral directors and as a building surveyor for local authorities, including Harrogate and Bradford councils. Now, he works for his son, stone sculptor Joseph Hayton, 27.

Mr Hayton receives all kinds of commissions from animal carvings and rocking horses to lecterns and bespoke furniture, and was delighted to carve this special award.

He said: “The trophy has been carved out of solid burr oak and will make a wonderful token for whoever is named the Farmer of the Year 2015 at the country’s premier agricultural showcase this summer.”

Since launching the search for a farmer who goes the extra mile to connect the public with the journey of food from field to fork, the response from farmers has been great but there is still time to enter.

The deadline for entries is midnight on Friday. A winner will then be chosen by a judging panel featuring Bill Cowling, honorary show director at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, Richard Pearson, regional director of the National Farmers’ Union and Judy Bell, chairman of regional food group Deliciouslyorkshire.

To enter, send no more than 500 words explaining how your farm has connected with the public to Ben Barnett, The Yorkshire Post, No 1 Leeds, 26 Whitehall Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS12 1BE or email [email protected]