16 February 2023 - Flipbook - Page 42
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RURALYOUTH
FARMWEEK
OCTOBER 28 2021
Inspirational
Moneymore boy
raises £2,300
for Marie Curie
Countryfile at
Harper Adams
University
A
E
LEVEN-year-old Zak Wilkinson from
Moneymore has proven he is a cut
above the rest by recently growing
his hair to below his shoulders only to
have it cut off to raise money for charity!
With all proceeds going to Marie Curie - a
whopping £2,300 in total - Zak donated
seven inches of his hair to a cancer
charity in order to make a wig for a child
who was receiving chemotherapy.
He said his journey wasn’t always easy,
often being taunted at school that he
looked like a girl or having his hair being
pulled, but he soldiered on as he knew
some little person needed his hair.
Friends and family from across
Northern Ireland , and further
afield, very kindly made donations
to Zak.
Initially he hoped he would raise
£100 but he quickly met this target
and the donations kept rolling in!
STYLISH: Zac Wilkinson, pictured left showing off his long hair before
braving the chop and pictured above at the mart showing off his new
hairstyle.
His grandfather, Joe
Dickson, very kindly
donated a ewe to Zak
for auction at Armoy
Sheep sale and
Zak was overjoyed
when A&T Clyde from
Orchard farm in Antrim
purchased the ewe for £430.
Zak was very thankful to everyone who
made generous donations and was very
excited to present Heather Miller from
Marie Curie a cheque for £2,300.
He has a new short hairstyle but is
already thinking about growing his hair
again, well done Zak!
‘Young Farmer of the
Year’ Harriet Ross
F
ARMER Harriet Ross
(29), who grew up on
the family arable farm in
Aberdeenshire, has won
Farmers Weekly’s Young
Farmer of the Year Award.
Although
Harriet
was
encouraged to pursue a nonagricultural degree, she found
her way back to farming after
realising her passion for the
sector.
After graduating she spent
several years working as a
farming consultant, leaving
the role in July in order to
fully commit to her agriculture
enterprises.
Now, alongside partner Ben,
she owns a successful pig farm,
manages what used to be her
parents’ arable enterprise, runs
a livery diversification, and
holds a farm tenancy from the
Aberdeen Endowments Trust.
She employs six full-time staff,
has 7,500 pigs at any one time
and farms 485 hectares in total.
While at university, Harriet
set up a livery business at the
family farm, using a grant to
convert a farm shed into an
indoor school. In 2019, Harriet
and Ben were among a number
of applicants who applied
to
Aberdeen
Endowments
Trust for a short limitedduration tenancy at Newseat of
Drumbreck.
Once shortlisted, they were
thoroughly questioned by a
judging panel and impressed
with
their
comprehensive
answers, as well as the written
support from their bank and
solicitor.
Harriet said: “When we found
out we had been successful
we were initially shocked but
delighted to have been granted
the opportunity. This gave us
the foothold to embark on a
long held ambition to farm in
our own right”.
Two years into the agreement
PASSION: Ben Lowe; David Green AET; Harriet Ross; Chris Gordon, Savills.
and with an end date looming,
the couple were wary of
investing any more in the
holding. Following discussion
earlier this year with the
Trustees,
agreement
was
reached to convert their short
limited duration tenancy to
a modern limited duration
tenancy, allowing them to plan
for the future.
Dave Green of Aberdeen
Endowments Trust said: ‘In
their original application for
the tenancy of Newseat of
Dumbreck back in 2019, Harriet
and Ben’s commitment, and
attention to detail, was evident.
The trustees for the Aberdeen
Endowment Trust were all in
agreement with the decision
to let Newseat of Dumbreck to
them as new entrants.
“To be back on the farm with
them three years later, and to
be congratulating Harriet on
winning this Young Farmer
of the Year 2021 award, is an
endorsement of what they have
achieved in such a short time.
The future of farming is in safe
hands with young entrants like
Harriett and Ben.”
As an adviser to the Aberdeen
Endowments Trust, Savills
Chris Gordon has witnessed
Harriet’s effectiveness at first
hand.
He said: “Recommending to
the Trustees that Harriet and
Ben should have their existing
agreement
extended
and
converted to a modern limited
duration tenancy was an easy
decision. And now Harriet’s
aptitude for farming, and her
outstanding
entrepreneurial
flair, has made her a very
deserving recipient of the
Young Farmer’s Award.”
This year, Harriet also took
over the management of her
parents’ neighbouring farming
business, covering 235 ha of
mainly arable land and growing
wheat, oilseed rape, oats and
barley.
At the same time they had
been contracting for another
owner, and after harvest 2020
they approached him to ask
about a joint venture. Instead, in
February 2021, he offered them
the chance to buy it, partly
based on the strength of their
existing working relationship.
Harriet has impressively
combined multiple enterprises
that fully complement each
other, showing good knowledge
and a logical decision-making
process.
The more regular income
from the pigs helps support
the arable system, the manure
is used instead of fertiliser, and
the land is used to grow food
for the pigs, more than halving
the food costs.
Meanwhile, the unit’s poorer
land is utilised by the livery
business.
CLA East regional director
and independent judge said:
“Harriet has worked hard to
establish a sustainable and
profitable business that is
ready to adapt. She is reviewing
alternative income streams to
ensure the business remains
viable and is interested in
benchmarking against and
learning from others.”
BBC Countryfile Harvest special looking
at the future of the British harvest
has screened – with Harper Adams
University’s Hands Free Farm among the key
projects covered.
The Hands Free Farm team welcomed
Countryfile to film the piece this August, as they
worked to complete the first full harvest on the
farm, on the University estate in Shropshire.
The 35-hectare Hands Free Farm is the
successor of the multi-award winning Hands Free
Hectare, which started in 2016 with the aim to be
the first in the world to grow, tend and harvest
a crop without operators in the driving seats or
agronomists on the ground.
The three-year-long project is run in partnership
between Harper Adams and Precision Decisions,
along with the UK division of Australian precision
agriculture specialist, Farmscan AG.
The programme followed three team members
– Principal Investigator and Harper Adams Senior
Lecturer Kit Franklin, mechatronics and UAS
researcher for Harper Adams, Jonathan Gill, and
Martin Abell, Operations Manager at Precision
Decisions and Hands Free Farm Project Manager
– to examine both the history of the project, and
how they fared tackling this year’s harvest.
Viewers were told how the trio – and the wider
HFHa team – were the first in the world to plant,
grow and harvest a crop using only drones and
autonomous vehicles on the Hectare in 2016.
Kit explained: “I came to Harper Adams, where
I studied Agricultural Engineering, because I
wanted to design and develop the next generation
of machines.
“But whilst I was here, I gained some new
perspectives on farming, and I started to feel
that farm machinery had got too large. So my
aim through the work we do here is to reduce the
scale of farm machinery.”
Countryfile Presenter Steve Brown was shown
meeting the team as they made their final
preparations, to learn more about both the
machinery they were using and their plans for
that day’s harvest.
He explained : “The lads have programmed this
dinky tractor and combine to work alongside
each other in the field – and their lightweight size
is kinder on the soil than some of those bigger
boys.”
Jonathan explained: “By having smaller
machines, physically compacting on the ground,
it means there’s a lot less physical metal just
driving around over the field. We’re hoping that
the capabilities of having much smaller, multiple
machines is a lot more efficient.”
Later in the programme, viewers were shown
how the machines tackled their first full-scale
wheat harvest on the Hands Free Farm – with
Steve, farm contractor Fraser Moss and Harper
Adams student - and harvest veteran - Eleanor
Gilbert looking on.
Steve described the technology as ‘amazing’
and fantastic – but wondered how some might
feel watching a harvest without any drivers.
The Hands Free Farm team have emphasised
that their work is not about taking jobs away
from the sector, but rather about changing the
jobs that farmers do as they adapt to the future.
This was something Eleanor picked up on as
she watched the machines do their work, and she
told Steve: “I might keep my tractor I’ve got at the
minute, just in case – but I think it’s more that
we’ll have a change in our skill set. Rather than
sat on a tractor all day, we might have to control
tablets and swarms of little robots.”
Steve added: “Eleanor is spot on. That is the
dream.
“Even though this little combine cuts a third
less than a bigger machine, if you had a fleet of
them working together, you’d finish this field in
no time.”
At the end of the day, the team were pleased
with their work – despite one technical hitch
in communication between the combine and
tractor, which they were able to fix for the rest
of the harvest.
Jonathan told Steve: “To be able to do
something, from a single hectare, now to a farm –
and it’s come a long way – I’m really proud.
“My heart has swollen loads today by being
able to showcase this.”