Cambridgeshire young farmers compete for best straw sculpture
Straw bale sculptures of tractors, animals and a combine harvester have been created by young farmers as part of an annual competition. Five Cambridgeshire groups are competing against each other, inspired by this year's theme - Back British Farming.It is part of a publicity drive for the Cambridgeshire County Show, which is a traditional country event organised by the county's young farmers. County chairman Sam Forsyth, 25, said they hoped to "educate the public and show them how hard farmers work".
"A lot of our members do feel quite passionately about what's going on and are impacted by the changes in farming recently," the quantity surveyor said.
The Cambridgeshire County Show is the farmers' biggest fundraiser and is returning to the Abbots Ripton Estate, near Huntingdon, for the second time, on 31 May. It has existed for more than 20 years and used to be held at the National Trust's Wimpole Hall Estate.Mr Forsyth said: "It's bigger, we've got more trade stands, we've pre-sold more tickets and we've got livestock and live farming equipment displays this year."
Cambridgeshire Young Farmers has five branches that take part in the straw bale sculpture competition.The rural youth charity, which is aimed at anyone who enjoys the countryside regardless of their farming background, has seen its membership grow by about 15% in Cambridgeshire recently. "We've got our highest level of membership - 175 members - since I joined five years ago," Mr Forsyth said.
Members, who are aged up to 28, compete against each other with challenges, including public speaking and tug-of-war.They also compete against other county young farmer groups, and currently Cambridgeshire's women's netball and men's football groups are the eastern regional champions. There are 581 Young Farmers' Clubs in England and Wales.
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