Field Day

Well, here we are then. In Torquay for one of my favourite weekends of the year: the National Federation of Young Farmers' annual convention.

It all got underway this afternoon and if you're wondering what on earth I'm doing writing a blog post at 10pm well, don't worry, this will only be a quick one while I'm wolfing something to eat and putting my dancing shoes on and then it's out to see the sights of Torquay.

There are nearly 4000 young farmers from across England and Wales in the Devon town. I spotted the first lot in the Fleet services on the M3: the pink shirts of Suffolk Young Farmers.

8 am and it's like a ghost town here.

The sun's out but very few Young Farmers are yet. Guess most are still sleeping off their hangovers or preparing for the day's activities.

A wave of excitement went round last night when we discovered a journalist from The Sunday Times style magazine will be here to cover the event. Young Farmers style - now there's a thought.

Congratulations, incidentally, to everyone who walked or cycled or drove tractors to Torquay for charity.

I met up with a saddle-sore but very happy contingent from Essex yesterday evening who you may have read about on Field Day before.

Young Farmers are famous for their T-shirts.

Every year there is a vast array of them on display at the convention, all with slogans on the back. Some are clever, most are funny, a few are downright offensive.

Field Day can, of course, bring you the full unedited version of proceedings here, so we'll be publishing one or two of the T-shirt photos that are deemed too offensive to make it either into Farmers Weekly magazine or onto other (less judiciously edited!) areas of FWi.

Here's one to kick off with.

What I said earlier about Torquay being quiet, forget that!

Young Farmers are out in force and the town is buzzing.

The beach is a popular spot for a stroll or a kickaround with a ball and we caught up this afternoon with the 40 people who made the journey here from Kent.

Obviously Zoe Fisher needed to cool down in a hurry!

I've throw a few shapes on the dancefloor in my time. Not very well and often under the influence, admittedly, but I was well impressed with the Disco Dancing Competition this afternoon.

They were all brilliant, but the eventual winner was Rhosybol YFC.

Of course, I'd have been up there like a shot showing them how it was done if it wasn't for my old war wound!

Tonight's entertainment is about to start in Torquay, featuring Radio 1's Chappers & Dave and Chesney Hawkes, best known for his smash hit 'The One and Only'.

This is me backstage (OK, it was in the hotel but backstage sounds better) with Chesney. And no, if you're wondering, I'm not 4' 2", he was standing three steps higher up than me!

This is Chesney on stage. Sadly, he declined my offer to take a turn on the keyboard ("but, Ches, I've got Grade 2 piano!")

We had a beer and a good chat last night with a couple of the guys from Cornwall - and they bet us £20 the photo we took of them wouldn't end up getting used on FWi.

So here it is.

Please send the money (cash only please, gents) to me c/o Farmers Weekly. Alternatively, you could put it behind the bar for me at Blackpool next year...

'Military uniform' was the fancy dress theme in the Riviera Centre for Saturday night.

Everywhere you looked, there were people in army camouflage gear. It felt like I'd inadvertently walked onto an army training base.

I promised you a couple more T-shirts so here goes. We spotted these two corkers on Sunday morning.

The drama at the convention is always a hotly contested competition and this year three teams were battling it out on Sunday afternoon - Buxton, Bedwas and Pelynt.

My favourite was Buxton who were performing a play called The Seven Year Hitch. It was about inheritance tax.

Now I know this might not sound a particularly funny subject, but it was hilarious. It involved a dead farmer in a freezer at one point.

The actors in the Seven Year Hitch were from Derbyshire. Apparently they had never played at such a low altitude as Torquay before!

So, that's that then. Another Young Farmers convention has come and gone.

I'm back in the office today and flagging a bit, to be honest. Definitely need an early night tonight.

Lots of memories from the weekend. My highlights included watching Buxton's play in the drama, hearing all the upbeat talk about the future of farming at the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Forum and having such a laugh at the fancy dress party.

Don't forget you be able to watch a seven-minute video of the weekend's highlights soon. The link to it will be on Field Day tomorrow.

We promised you exclusive video footage of the Young Farmers in Torquay. Click here to watch the seven-minute film.