Entries are now invited for this year’s Young Advocates for Agriculture, the national debating competition that gives student agriculturalists the chance to have their say on the future of the farming industry.  Taking place on the 4^th October at the Farmer’s & Fletcher’s Livery Hall in London, the aspiring young orators will be put through their paces in front of a panel of prestigious judges as well as a large audience of farmers and industry leaders.

The debaters will be flexing their oratory skills to win the Young Advocates trophy, a cash prize and a media training day with Tom Heap, investigative reporter on BBC’s Countryfile.  And that’s not all! New for 2012 and open to all competitors, the two best individual debaters will be selected to act as seconds in the famed Oxford Union Debate at the Oxford Farming Conference in January 2013.

Commenting during last year’s competition, farming minister Jim Paice said "Our industry needs its advocates. We've always suffered because we don't have enough people out there who can positively promote and explain what we're doing."