Daniel Skinner is the Young Farmer of the Year 2022!

On Saturday 3^rd December 6 Finalists battled it out for the title of Young Farmer of the Year 2022. The competitors- who had made it through the regional qualifiers in the summer- were Jack Young (Carluke YFC), Gavin Adam (West Fife JAC), Daniel Skinner (Garioch JAC), Stuart Limond (Ayr YFC), Marcus Slater (Harray YFC) and Angus Runciman (Ettrick & Lauderdale JAC).

The finalists were put through a number of tests and challenges to assess their skill, ingenuity and expertise in the field. They began the morning by presenting a prepared business plan to a panel of judges made up of experts from Galbraith and Royal Bank of Scotland as well as farm owner Stephen Melville (on who’s farm the plans were based) who critiqued them on a range of elements such as market analysis, borrowing for investments, land management plan, livestock management plan, carbon farming, Agri tourism and what professional advisors would be required.

After the business plans were presented, the contestants went through a gauntlet of tasks to gauge their Agri skills and farm knowledge, these tasks change each year, so the contestants don’t know what to prepare for. This year the tasks included:

Quad Bike Driving (overseen by ATV Services), Tractor Driving (overseen by Hamilton Ross Group), Robotic milker maintenance (overseen by DairyFlow), Sheep Condition and Selection (overseen by the Sheep Game and Te Pari), Hoofcare (overseen by Ross of Tinto Farm Vets), and welding (overseen by Robin Inglis).

After these tasks were competed, a final tally revealed the winner on the day and this year’s Young Farmer of the Year:

Daniel Skinner of Garioch JAC! Who was presented with the Sir John Campbell [Glenrath Farms] Trophy at that evening’s 5 Star Awards Event.

Daniel excelled throughout the contest, taking each new task in his stride. But was particularly impressive in his business plan which judges commented as being a “model of excellence”.

He had this to say of his win:

“I’m extremely happy to have won the Young Farmer of the Year award up against strong competition. I think placing 2nd in the competition last year was a lot to do with my success as it shows how much you gain from the experience and what I took away from last year’s feedback allowed me to improve my business plan for this year. The challenges forward for the 6 competitors on the day of the competition were well organised and provided a mix of tasks to suit people from all areas of farming. I have to thank my mentor, Emma Cowie, who was provided by RBS to help put together the business plan and arrange bank facilities needed for my proposals. I’m sure my competitors will agree with me that all our Mentors will have been an integral part of our ability to put the business plans together. RBS have also very generously provided me with £1000 in prize money, RHASS have sponsored a trip to the Oxford Farming Conference and ATV Services gifted a brand-new Suzuki Quad Bike. I’m extremely grateful to all the sponsors for they’re prizes. I hope those who I competed against this year go for it again next year and I encourage all YF members to take part in their regional eliminations, it’s a great competition to be part of.”

In second place behind Daniel was Jack Young of Carluke YFC with Stuart Limond of Ayr YFC taking third position. Congratulations to these three and to all 6 finalists for making it to this last stage of competition and have hopefully gained a wealth of knowledge, experience and assistance to use in their own farming journeys.

The SAYFC would like to thank all the sponsors and supporters who make this competition what it is. This is a special contest, and it is made such by those that put their hard time and effort into its success.

Martin Rennie of Galbraith had this to say of the competition:

“Galbraith really enjoyed being part of the Young Farmer of the Year Competition.  In particular the development of the business plan scenario and the judging of the presentation.  Congratulations to all 6 of the competitors and the winner Daniel Skinner. Final congratulations to the winner of the community engagement award* sponsored by Galbraith; Strathearn JAC.”

A final thank you to those that provided this year’s winning prize:

£1000 (provided by Royal Bank of Scotland),

A trip to the Oxford Farming Conference (provided by RHASS),

And the grand prize, a BRAND-NEW Suzuki King Quad 500 XPZ (provided by ATV services)!!

(current value £11,999 including vat!)