IT was a hometown victory for Northumberland Federation on Young Farmers’ Clubs last weekend, when they were crowned champions at the Northern Area Field Day.

For the first time in 32 years, hosts of the event Northumberland Young Farmers beat seven other Northern counties including Cumbria, Yorkshire, East-Riding, Durham, Lancashire and the Isle of Man for the champion trophy at Great Law Farm, Capheaton.

Chairman Ed Dungait described himself as “the proudest chairman in the world”.

“We’re all exceptionally proud to be from Northumberland, so for our county to not only host but to also win the rally in the same year is a huge achievement,” he said.

“The committee worked exceptionally hard to give a warm welcome to all the clubs across the North who visited, and we should be really proud of how we represented ourselves.

“In particular, secretary Alex Thompson, treasurer Matt Wallace and field day chairman Cameron Shell were hugely instrumental in ensuring the day ran smoothly.”

Fifty one competitions were held on the day, with Northumberland members ranking first in 14 including auctioneering, tractor handling, and machine sheep shearing.

“The only competition I entered in myself was the chairman’s challenge, which involved making a balloon dog. I came second, so it was a good job the other members did so well in leading us to victory!” Ed added.

Although Northumberland will not be hosting the event for another six years, Ed hopes that by then a wider audience might take more interest in the competition.

“With such a high standard of talent on show, it would be great in the future for the event to be better supported by non-farming folk too.”