YORKSHIRE’S Rachel Goldie has followed in her father’s footsteps to the top table of the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC).

Rachel, 25, of Danby Wiske, near Northallerton, was elected a vice-chairman of the federation at the council meeting on February 17 in Coventry.

Her father, dairy farmer Alan, was national chairman in 1996-97.

“I suppose it had always been in the back of my mind that it would be nice to get to national like dad,” said Rachel.

“It happened sooner than I expected as somebody up for election had dropped out and it was all very last minute that I took their place.

“People said I made a very passionate speech but it was all so hurried and off-the-cuff that I can’t even really remember what I said. It’s all really exciting and hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

Rachel has been a member of Great Smeaton Young Farmers’ Club since she was about 12 and although she has a career away from the family farm, as a support worker with adults with learning disabilities, she spends her spare time helping out.

The normal protocol is that Rachel will spend two years as one of a pair of vice-chairmen, before moving up to take over the reins of the chairman’s job.

“I’m keen to help build some bridges,” says Rachel. “Particularly when it comes to communication between national and members. I’m also keen to make sure that Yorkshire’s voice is heard at a national level.”

Katie Hall, 30, a member of Tewkesbury Young Farmers’ Club, Gloucestershire, was elected as the national chairman. The second vice-chairman is Dewi Parry from Clwyd FYFC. One of the new trio’s first jobs was planting trees, as a way of supporting the Government’s Year of Green Action.

New chairman Katie throwed down the gauntlet to the country’s young farmers clubs, saying they should get involved with the Woodland Trust-supported initiative and plant a tree for every member in 2019.

NFYFC’s president and Farming Today presenter Charlotte Smith said: “This campaign is a great way for YFC members to support the environment and their local communities.

“We want to show how passionate young farmers are about sustainability and the environment and to demonstrate how much we care about the rural communities where we live and work.”

Young Farmers have until August to order their sapling trees from the Woodland Trust. The tree planting will then take place across England and Wales in November 2019.