The Beef Shorthorn Society has launched Beef Student of the Year, a first time award open to those studying agriculture or a related course at a UK agricultural college or university.
 
£2,000 is at stake for the winning student together with £1,000 to their place of study to be spent on a beef related project.
 
Students between the ages of 18 and 35 years are being invite to write an essay of up to 1,500 words, complemented with a 140-character Tweet describing how a commercial suckler unit could introduce Beef Shorthorn to its current model in order to develop a sustainable and profitable enterprise, without support payments, post Brexit.
 
College and universities have the opportunity to nominate up to three essays each by 10 February deadline. The Beef Shorthorn Society’s judging panel will go on to select four finalists to attend a final judging round later in spring.
 
Beef Shorthorn Society chief executive, Milly Fyfe commented: “We are pleased to launch this award – the first of its kind, which is designed to provide the upcoming generation with the opportunity to reflect the beef sector’s requirement for future producers, demonstrate an understanding of the industry and the challenges it faces post Brexit, and how farmers will need to respond in order to achieve sustainability and profitability.
 
“The judges will be seeking students who are able to best demonstrate they have an awareness of how to manage a profitable suckler beef enterprise post Brexit, and the tools - both management and technical, they will deploy to achieve their goal. They must also demonstrate a commitment to progressing their career within the beef farming sector.”