This year just keeps flying past and the young farmers are as busy as ever, writes Suffolk Young Farmers’ co-ordinator Tory Lugsden.

November has been quite kind to us on the weather front so the farmers aren’t muttering too much yet.

We are delighted that we have a new pair of hands in the County Office working on the EDGE apprenticeship scheme promoting agriculture as a career and working on developing the skills of our membership. Izzy Botfield is our newest member of staff and comes from Debenham Young Farmers Club so knows all about YFC and how we work so has been able to hit the ground running.

The county lazerquest competition was as popular as ever with all 10 clubs competing for the points. It was great to see Deben Valley Juniors take the points for the junior competition having been quite quiet for the past few months. The senior competition was hotly contended and taken very seriously. I heard rumours of girls hiding in terror and boys playing at Rambo complete with face decoration but they might be winding me up. Well done to another newcomer to the winners parade with our northerners from Halesworth winning the overall competition.

And so to the highlight of the seniors year, no not the Debenham Ball – which I will come to in a minute – but the Junior Ball. Take a great big group of over excited 10-16 year olds, add a heavy dose of fizzy drinks (non alcoholic of course), hours of glamming up and some exceedingly loud music and you have the perfect combination to make a fantastic night. The King and Queen of the Ball were awarded to Paige Groom from Lark Valley YFC and to Edward Bullock of Gipping Valley YFC for their fantastic outfits and being the height of glamour. The seniors served up a two course meal with only minor complaint from the juniors, one poor young lady didn’t like chocolate so was unfortunately rewarded with a solely squirty cream pudding but she seemed happy enough! The seniors were overawed by the rush to the dance floor for the first song and there they stayed until the lights were put on at 11pm. Once again a quick trip down memory lane for a quick Oops Upside Ya Head and a bit of Whigfield to ensure that the YFC traditions live on with our younger members. Debenham Ball was a great night with fantastic support from all of the clubs. The senior members put on the glad rags and enjoyed a brilliant night starting the festive season and putting the members in the mood for the festive season and the non stop gatherings that YFC brings.

And so to December, where the arable boys wrestle with the difficulties of the Pointless answer and the livestock boys and girls mutter about mud up to their armpits and wonder how many times they will need to defrost the water pipes or break the ice on the troughs. From all of the members and staff at Suffolk Young Farmers, we wish all of our supporters a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing what 2014 will bring.

We take on the challenge of public speaking, member of the year, debating, reading and the NFYFC Just a Minute competition and take a brief rest over the holiday season before we get to our busiest few months. Only a few more weeks until the nights draw out again…

From all of the members and staff at Suffolk Young Farmers, we wish all of our supporters a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing what 2014 will bring.