The day began with a well-earned cuppa and bacon buttie by members all turning up well in time to start the days competitions. This was to be started with fence erecting, kindly sponsored by Grantly Sawmills. Teams were well prepared, and gave it their best. Particular well done to the junior team from Penistone YFC.

Junior Rounders was this year held at the rural rally, on some very muddy pitches. This however did not dampen the spirits, and some well contested matches were played. Well done to Worth Valley yfc on claiming the trophy.

Valuation competition was very well supported with nearly 50 entries turning up on the day, to value 15 items, with some having a very misleading price tag.

With thank you to Russells for donating the tractor for Tractor Handling, this was another well attended competition. Well done to Natalie Moore of Tadcaster and Wetherby YFC, for showing the boys how to drive and to Chris Leedham of Amotherby yfc for first overall.

Mini Digger Challenge was won by Joe Quinn of Easingwold YFC. Well done to all who competed.

With a big thank you to our supporters of Russells and Grantly Sawmills for their support and equipment that make the day a possibility, Thirsk Auction for the venue, Carol and her team for keeping us all fed and watered all day. All the judges and stewards for their time, and the members.

From Yorkshire's Greatest Export 2012

Six Young Farmers travelled from Yorkshire to the NFYFC AGM last week by Freerider mobility scooters and received a great reception when after 7 days on the road they reached Torquay.  The challenge was part of their annual ‘Yorkshire’s Greatest Export’ campaign and saw the scooters towing giant versions of their chosen products, potatoes and a wool bearing sheep to the south coast for charity.

The challenge nicknamed ‘Yorkie to Torkie’ by the members of Yorkshire Young Farmers Clubs took place at speeds of between 4 and 8 mph from Saturday 21 to Friday 27 April.  Members spent a total of 60 hours on the road during the week and covered the 301 miles between them.  The challengers encountered a week of inclement weather, dog bites, police questioning and at one point being held up by other scooter users.  One member Lucy Parker from Knaresborough YFC even crashed the cart carrying the sheep into the team’s own safety trailer.   The bizarre happenings did not once the team arrived in Torquay as team member Tim Atkinson (who’d had plenty of time to contemplate whilst sat on a scooter proposed to his girlfriend Laura who said yes!

Aside from promoting spuds and wool and demonstrating the durability of the Freerider Scooters the journey had also a charity element to it with funds being raised for National Healthcare charity, Sue Ryder. Approximately £3,200 raised by traditional methods a friendly online competition is being held to see which is people’s favourite export was between the sheep and the spud.  Those supporting the British Wool supported sheep have so far donated £97 at www.justgiving/yfcwool and those backing the giant spud, sponsored by E. Park and Sons and Nisa stores have donated £185 at www.justgiving/yfcspud. Voting does not close until the end of May so people still have time to make a difference and support the challenge and its charity. 

Tim Atkinson, Development and Marketing Chairman for Yorkshire YFC said. “Our trip was a huge success and we owe a great deal to our sponsors including Ripon Landrover for the use of their safety vehicle and Esk Valley Bar Services for the use of their trailer.  We are also very grateful to the members of YFC clubs who so kindly hosted us along our journey.” Tim added when we set off we didn’t know if we’d make it but the scooters were brilliant and we’d recommend them to anyone.  Freerider have kindly let us auction the four scooters of for charity so we are looking to hear from anyone who is interested.” 

E. Park & Sons “The Same Every Time Potatoes” and Nisa Retail were the sponsors of the Spud campaign. Stephen Park, Director of E. Park and Sons said. “We were delighted to help the Young Farmers celebrate what makes Yorkshire great; help support the next generation of farmers; and get behind a great charity that makes a difference to so many lives. “

The Wool bearing sheep was supported by the British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB) who have close ties with the Young Farmers and have their head office in Bradford.  The BWMB, a non profit making, farmer run organisation collects, grades and auctions the majority of British wool from British sheep breeds across the UK.  “We are pleased to be supporting this initiative and wish the Young Farmers every success in raising funds for their chosen charities” says Gareth Jones, BWMB Producer Relations Manager.

Scooter specialist Freerider Luggie UK Ltd. kindly provided the mobility scooters for the challenge.  Their UK headquarters is based in Keighley where Sue Ryder provides palliative care through its services at Manorlands Hospice and its community team which cares for people at home throughout the district.  Linda Dixon of Freerider said, “We were delighted to be provide our scooters to the Young Farmers for this exciting challenge and are really pleased that they performed so well.  This was a great way to demonstrate the durability and reliability of our products and we are delighted that money is still pouring in for Sue Ryder who do such a great job in our local community.”

For more information on the challenge please contact Andrew Wood on 01535 640176 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it