ARGYLLSHIRE hill farmer and reality TV star Sybil MacPherson is the inaugural winner of the NFUS new Argyll and The Islands Stalwart Award.

The award was created in 2016 in recognition and memory of the dedication shown by Mull’s Bert Leitch and Lachlan MacLean, both long serving members who represented farmers and crofters regionally and nationally,who sadly passed away in 2015.

The award will be presented annually to either a NFUS member who has followed in their footsteps and given their time and effort to the work of the union in Argyll and the Islands region, or someone who has made a significant contribution to agriculture in the area.

The award was presented to Sybil by Lachlan’s son, Jamie MacLean, at the region’s NFUS AGM at Stonefield Castle, Tarbert last week.

Farming at Brackley, near Dalmally, Sybil is well-known as a driving force behind hill farming in the region. Courtesy of the BBC’s successful ‘This Farming Life’ series she has, along with her husband George, shown the trials, tribulations and beauty of farming on the West Coast to an audience of millions.

Sybil has always been very active in representing farmers and crofters. She currently chairs NFU Scotland’s Lorn Branch and has a seat on the Union’s Less Favoured Areas committee. She is also a chairman of the National Sheep Association’s Scottish region.

Making the presentation, past regional chairman John Semple said: “There can be few more deserving people to be the inaugural winner of this award and I am absolutely certain both Bert and Lachlan would have been pleased and proud to see Sybil receive this honour from Lachlan’s son, Jamie today.

“As ‘This Farming Life’ showed, keeping sheep and cattle in these parts is a labour of love, but Sybil, and her husband George, showed the teamwork, dedication and passion that goes into hill farming in a way that captured the imagination of millions and, justifiably, made them stars.

“But what the programme maybe didn’t show was the time and effort Sybil has put in to representing her fellow farmers and crofters. Supported by George, she will have attended hundreds of meetings up and down the country, wearing her NFUS or NSA hat, and making sure the voice of hill farmers continues to be heard.

“And no one can tell the fantastic story of what goes in to producing tasty, succulent Argyll hill lamb better than Sybil. She truly is a stalwart of Argyll and The Islands Region.”