What is Young Farmers?
Surrey Young Farmers is part of the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs, which is the UK’s largest rural youth organisation with over 20,000 members across the UK.
Surrey currently has 8 active clubs and around 130 members aged between 10 and 28
Young Farmers is a charity organisation that provides young people with fun, adventure and achievement opportunities. You don’t have to be a farmer to be in Young Farmers. It is a club for individuals who have a love for the countryside and outdoor activities.
What does Young Farmers do?
Clubs meet on a weekly basis in term time. They take part in a variety of activities, from country walks, scavenger hunts, farm visits, wildlife talks to an evening bowling, at pirate golf or jumping around at Airhop. We also enjoy being involved in local conservation work and taking part in craft evenings.
Young Farmers provides their members with plenty of opportunities; from developing skills, learning about the countryside, working with local communities, travelling abroad, taking part in a varied competitions schedule and attending social events; there’s something for everyone!
Why Surrey Young Farmers?
We’re fun, friendly and approachable with a variety of different sized individual clubs. We all know each other and clubs enjoy catching up with each other, but there is also a healthy dose of club rivalry as well!
We have inter-club events throughout the year, an activities weekend, a winter indoor rally and our annual Cowpie Country show in May. This is our big fundraiser with over 10,000 people attending in recent years, enjoying a day of attractions, livestock, rural crafts, farm food, competitions and our main ring displays.
It shows the best of Young Farmers, with members taking part in stock-judging, tractor and digger challenges, dog shows and main ring competitions. For members who have been raising baby chicks or orphan lambs over recent months, they also get to come along and be part of the show.
There is also a marquee packed with crafts and exhibits that the Young Farmers have made for the different competitions.
The winners go onto represent Surrey in the South of England show in June, which hosts a variety of static area competitions as well as the stock judging finals.
Our Indoor Rally takes place in December where clubs compete in various competitions against each other. We also host the Member of the Year contest, Reading and Public Speaking competitions, as well as sporting challenges to select county teams for the different area events.
These lead onto South East Area competitions and National finals.
County and Club roles
Surrey has a dedicated team to support all clubs in the area – please see our Contact Page
Surrey roles such as County Chair, Vice Chair and Agricultural and Rural Representative are filled from current club members. There is also a chance for members to develop skills and take on responsibility by undertaking a role such as club chair, programme co-ordinator or press officer within their club.
Clubs and parents are kept up to date of County events through the “Pigpen” newsletter, which is issued four times a year.
Interested in joining?
If you’re interested in joining us, head over to our county’s club pages to find your nearest club. Read about each club and then email to find out the best time for you to go along. Alternatively call our county office on 01737 844528 or email on office@surreyyfc.co.uk for help or more information.
