OVER 100 young farmers from across Devon came together for an annual activities day recently. 

Sponsored by UK rural insurer NFU Mutual, this year’s event brought members of Devon Young Farmers’ Club (YFC) to Tiverton on June 3rd to work in team contests.

The day focused on farm safety, with members invited to drive a tractor and an all-terrain vehicle safely around a course, as well as answer some technical safety questions.

Mathew Latchford, of NFU Mutual’s Bideford and Barnstaple Agency, said: “It was a beautiful sunny day in mid-Devon and it was great to see young farmers of all ages taking part in the various competitions. 

“The opportunity for young farmers to use large pieces of machinery in a controlled way is so important to instil good habits and is beneficial for long term safety on farms.”

Buttermoor Farm at Loxbeare played host to the event, which included more traditional contests, like fence erecting, tug of war and rounders, as well as competitions like pallet recycling.

Teams of two were given 2.5 hours to create their masterpieces from three pallets, using only battery-powered tools to assist them. Creations included a sculpture of a deer, a giant YFC logo and the winning design of a companion chair.

Dawn Radford is Competitions Chairman at Devon YFC and has been attending this event for more than 13 years as a member, before having the responsibility of organising and hosting it at her family’s dairy farm this year. She said: “The tug of war competition was the main event of the day and is always taken very seriously, but we also had lots of fun in the sun with the addition of the slip and slide.”

Winners of the competitions will now go through to the South West Area Competitions Weekend in Dorset later this month.