Young Farmers and Careers

After a tumultuous year for the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) which saw memberships plummet significantly, Hannah Binns takes a look at the health of the charity as it enters its ninth decade.

David Mitchell, 25, is a third generation farmer, farming 200 native suckler cows and 750 ewes outside Wiston, Biggar. A past Biggar YFC chair, he is currently Lanarkshire vice-chair and sits on the National Ag and Rural Affairs Committee.

Maria Warne, 19, lives in Wadebridge, Cornwall and recently won the NFYFC’s Farm Safety Award. She currently works on her family’s farm and is in her final year of a veterinary nursing degree.

Aimee Budge farms in Shetland with her sister. They have 90 suckler Saler cross Shorthorn cattle, 300 Shetland cross Cheviot and 300 pure Shetland sheep and also grow 24 hectares of spring barley.

Emily Brown, 22, is the current Students’ Union President at Harper Adams University and is from a family farm in Stagsden, Bedfordshire.

Today marks the launch of the fourth, and potentially most important, year of our #ThisIsAgriculture campaign, at a moment in time when showcasing careers throughout the industry has never been more crucial.

Laura Yates, 25, lives on her family’s beef, sheep and arable farm near Bridgnorth, Shropshire. She currently works at Pinstone as an agri PR consultant.

Siobhan Rutter, 23, lives on her family farm in Tarporley Cheshire. She has just recently graduated from the Royal Agricultural University and has a strong passion for educating the public to where their food comes from.

Mhairi Strang, 26, is from Eaglesham, Glasgow. She graduated from the University of Glasgow with a business and management degree and milks 350 dairy cows, all year round calving, selling 150 stores each year.

Cameron Knee, 28, is from Bath, Somerset, but currently works as a farm manager on a mixed farm in Aberdeen.