Georgina Mitchell-Jones: Young Farmer rallies show youth is thriving
Georgina Mitchell-Jones © Caroline Burton Summer for young farmers means rally season. It’s also when my colleagues ask: “What are you up to this weekend?” and I’m left explaining that I’ll be making a scrapbook, arranging flowers or practising reversing a trailer – usually met with polite confusion.
The question that follows is almost always: “What actually is a rally?”
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Unless you’ve grown up around it, the idea of hundreds of young farmers descending on a field to compete in everything from obstacle courses to an auctioneering contest – alongside the obligatory pork pie speed-eating competition – does sound slightly odd.
From the outside, it might well look like a country show that’s lost control of itself. But to describe it as that would do it a massive disservice.
Every club wants to win their rally. Not because it’s impressive to outsiders, but because it matters to the people around us.
It matters to the club, to friends, to the people who’ve stood in the same rings, entered the same competitions and understand what it takes.
Whether it’s tug-of-war, stock judging or rural crafts, the pride runs deeper than the results sheet.
There’s also something quietly important about stepping away from the farm for a day.
Rally doesn’t fix the pressures that come with farming life, but it does create space away from them.
It brings people together who might otherwise spend long hours working alone, giving them something else to focus on – something shared.
What feels normal to us – the competitions, the chaos, the commitment – is actually a unique phenomenon across groups of young people.
Rallies showcase what young people in the countryside are capable of.
Their dedication, creativity and resilience, often in forms that don’t always shout for attention.
They keep rural skills alive, build confidence, and allow others to see it too.
