Rebecca Wilson, of Easingwood, North Yorkshire was named the North's winner of the NFU’s Meurig Raymond Award.
The award is named after the former NFU President and was presented to Ms Wilson in front of more than a thousand farmers and industry representatives at the NFU24 dinner in Birmingham on 20 February.
Rebecca helps run the family mixed farm and was one of fourteen farmers who became NFU Student and Young Farmer Ambassadors in 2022. She is also a Farmers for Schools Ambassador.
She grew up on the family farm in the heart of North Yorkshire which meant that she combined studying with practical farm work. The ambassador programme allowed her to meet people with different and complementary ideas and to promote engagement across the agricultural community.
For the awards the judges looked at how Rebecca worked with the NFU regional team on campaigns, her representation of the NFU locally and nationally, her positive engagement and work to drive sector and industry change.
An honour to represent the North
Rebecca said: “It was an honour to represent the North alongside some other fantastic NFU members from across England and Wales for the Meurig Raymond Award.
“I am delighted to be able to use my social media platform to raise awareness of the day-to-day realities of farming, but I also appreciate the many opportunities I have had to talk about these realities on mainstream media too.
“I especially love helping the next generation of farmers and consumers to learn more about the food we produce. I am just one of many farmers across our region and across the NFU membership who raise the reputation of our sector and I’d like to pay thanks to them as well for their work.”
A great champion for British farming
David Hall, NFU North Regional Director, said there were many farmers across the region doing great work and while those in all sectors were winners, he was pleased the award had gone to Rebecca this year.
“Rebecca is a great champion for British farming promoting to both farming and non-farming audiences alike.
“She is passionate about educating the public about British food and where their food comes from in a clear and simple way.
“Rebecca has done lots of work with NFU Education which has extended beyond school visits as a Farmers for Schools Ambassador to speaking to wider audiences on NFU Education webinars.
“At every opportunity Rebecca promotes British farming and the work of the NFU and is a huge advocate for everything it does. I am absolutely thrilled Rebecca has won this award, which is very well deserved.”