Farmers in good voice as they offer help to flood victims

Firstly, because he's a farmer; secondly, he has a breed of cattle which are named just that – they are called British Blondes; and thirdly because he is a singer.

Ken, of Walden Stubbs, near Doncaster, is back on the road in 2010 with the charity fund-raising concerts known as the Singing Farmers.

For the past six years he and five other singers and musicians from the farming community have toured Yorkshire, raising funds for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution. The RABI, as it is known, celebrates its own milestone in 2010 when it becomes 150 years old. In that time it has helped thousands of needy people in the farming community.

"There are those who still believe that every farmer must have it good because people say you never see one without a Land Rover," says Ken. "But that's not the way it is. There are always quite a few who are struggling to make ends meet and that's why the work of the RABI is so important. That's also why we have supported the charity since we started."

Sally Conner, one of two regional representatives in Yorkshire, said: "The RABI assists both those who are in short-term need of on-going help, such as when a farmer is ill or when he may have perhaps been incapacitated through an accident. It also helps ex-farm workers who may never have had much of a pension. We're really all about the farming world looking after its own. That's why we think what Ken and the rest of the Singing Farmers do for us each year is simply wonderful. They have raised nearly 100,000 for the charity in the past six years."

Ken says: "When farming was going through some of its toughest times – particularly during the foot and mouth crisis in 2001 – it was the RABI that provided a great deal of assistance, as well as manning telephone lines not just to offer help and support on the ground, but also helping those who were extremely stressed."

For the first time a concert is being held in Cumbria to help with the flood relief work in the county.

The five Singing Farmers are three farmers – Ken Jackson; Charles Marwood and Tony Richards, plus Phillip Holden, who runs farm supply shops and the Yorkshire Post's Chris Berry who instigated and manages the concerts.

Lloyd Lockwood, a music teacher based in Whenby, provides accompaniment for three of the singers.

Ken says: "All we try to do is entertain people. If we can put a smile on to people's faces for a few hours with our concerts, then we have achieved what we have set out to do, as well as raising money at the same time."

The concerts are March 14, Appleby in Westmorland, 2.30pm; March 21, Kirkbymoorside, 2.30pm; March 26, Northallerton, 7.30pm; March 28, Darley, Nidderdale, 2.30pm.

Tickets are 12. Please send a cheque payable to RABI, with a SAE and which concert you require tickets for, to: Singing Farmers Tickets, 2 Elmete Croft, Scholes, Leeds LS15 4BE.