Community / Success for young farmers at Royal Highland Show
THE SHETLAND Young Farmers group have had a successful trip to the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh – bagging a couple of awards in the process.
Nia Hunter, Erin Ridland and Aimee Gifford competed as a team in the national junior stockjudging competition and came in first place.
Chairperson Erin Gibson said this was a “was a huge achievement for Shetland’s first entry in this competition”.
“There was very strong opposition from many established clubs with a lot of experience,” she added. “We are very proud of our young team.”
The group also won first place in the young farmers national club of the year category.
This involved winning the regional heat and a further interview which led them to being one of the top three finalists.
Secretary Aimee Budge said: “We were thrilled to win this prestigious award and trophy, after having only been re-established for the past three years.
“Thank you to all our members, families and the community of Shetland for your ongoing support during this time. I am very proud of the commitment from our members and especially the fifteen who were able to make the trip to this year’s Royal Highland Show. We had a great time celebrating our win.”
The Shetland Young Farmers group welcomes all people aged between 14 and 30 years old.
Meanwhile local food, drink and craft producers also enjoyed the spotlight at the Royal Highland Show for the first time.
Among the highlights was Shetland lamb being served up at the president’s lunch, while first minister Nicola Sturgeon sampled some local scallops.
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