The finalists for the fifth annual Young Farmer of the Year competition have been revealed by SAYFC with a quality line-up of competitors taking part this year.

The six members who will be competing for the biggest prize in the SAYFC calendar are:

Jack Young – Carluke YFC

Stuart Limond – Ayr YFC

Daniel Skinner – Garioch YFC

Marcus Slater – Harray YFC

Gavin Adam – West Fife JAC

Angus Runciman – Ettrick and Lauderdale JAC

All of these competitors qualified through regional eliminations during the summer, where they completed a variety of practical tasks to prove their qualifications and advance to the final stage and a chance to compete for this year’s winning prize of £1000 provided by Royal Bank of Scotland; a trip to the Oxford Farming Conference and a brand new Suzuki King Quad 500 XPZ provided by ATV services. SAYFC are extremely thankful to ATV services for their generosity and support for this competition since it began five years ago.

The finalists met for the first time on October 24 at Cuplahills Farm in Fife by the kind invitation of farm owner, Stephen Melville. This meeting was the beginning of their first task in the finals as Stephen’s farm will provide the base of the business plan challenge set up by Galbraith. This year’s scenario is centred around succession where the contestants will use the farm as a base to build a hypothetical plan for its future taking into consideration factors such as familial needs and compensation, market analysis, borrowing for investments, land management and funding applications.

Alongside the information provided by Galbraith and from the farm visit, the contestants will also have access to expert investment mentors provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland. They will help them build their plan, ready for presentation to a panel of judges on the morning of December 3. The rest of the day will be packed with farming challenges to test the finalist’s metal, before finally, the winner will be revealed that evening as part of the SAYFC’s Five Star Awards ceremony – a night dedicated to the achievements of young farmers members throughout the year.

SAYFC would like to thank ATV Services, Royal Bank of Scotland and Galbraith for their continued support of this fantastic competition, which provides a wealth of knowledge, experience and assistance for all competitors to use in their own farming journeys.