Izzy is dairy award winner

09 October 2023

The five dairy award winners with their certficates

left to right: Victoria Cordwent, Tim Lyne, Lauren Frost, Becca Langford, Izzy Rhodes (winner)

Izzy Rhodes, a Duchy College student from Cornwall, has been named as the winner of the 2023 West Country Dairy Awards (WCDA).

Izzy is passionate about studying dairy cow genetics and aspires to be a genetics consultant helping farmers to have happy and productive cows with advice tailored to the individual demands of the farm. 

Izzy has supplemented her studies with work on farms, involvement in discussion groups, work with genetics companies and getting stuck into networking through groups like Women in Dairy. 

As well as being passionate about the dairy industry, Izzy was full of praise for Duchy College and the opportunities that can be gained from studying a degree flexibly and closer to home.

The finals day was kindly hosted by Saputo at their Davidstow creamery where iconic products such as Cathedral City cheddar are produced, with all finalists able to get a tour of the facility.

Breadth of the dairy sector

The judges represented the breadth of the dairy sector with independent farmers, Saputo, Arla and the National Farmers Union on the panel.

WCDA chair, Devon farmer Richard Kallaway, said: “The quality and confidence shown by our finalists in their interviews was inspiring but what really shone through was their passion for the industry.

“I say it every year, but these finalists continue to show that the industry will be in safe hands for many years to come”.

Applicants were interviewed at county level with the best five chosen to move on to the Finals Day.

In addition to Izzy, the other finalists were: Tim Lyne (Cornwall), Victoria Cordwent (Devon), Lauren Frost (Somerset) and Becca Langford (Dorset).

Dairy-related training

The Awards were established in 1925 to provide grants to people studying dairy-related training courses and are open to students living in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset or Dorset. This year the charitable organisation distributed over £17,000 to young people looking to further their skills within the dairy industry.

This year applicants came from a range of Universities and Colleges including: Aberystwyth University, University of Reading, Bridgwater & Taunton College, The Duchy College, Harper Adams University, Newcastle University and University of Surrey.

For more information about the awards, email [email protected] or visit www.afcp.org.uk/node/66

The fund is sponsored by:

  • AC Mole
  • Arla Foods
  • Azets
  • Barber’s
  • Cogent UK
  • Cooper and Tanner
  • Cowsfeet
  • Crediton Dairy
  • Cornish Mutual
  • Crediton Milling Company
  • Dairy Crest Direct
  • Devon County Agricultural Association
  • Foot Anstey
  • Glastonbury Festival
  • Harpers Feeds
  • Lely
  • Lye Cross Farm
  • Mole Valley Farmers
  • Mount Vets
  • NFU
  • NFU Mutual
  • Old Mill
  • Royal Bath & West of England Society
  • Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association
  • Saputo Dairy UK
  • Synergy Farm Health
  • Trewithen Dairy
  • Wyke Farms

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