Easton and Otley College challenged youngsters in Norfolk to draw pictures of what they think a tractor will look like in 100 years.
Eleven schools decided to take up the challenge and over 600 entries were submitted.
Greg Smith from the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association (RNAA), Ross Johnson from sponsors Ernest Doe and Sons Ltd and Dani Chatten from the college judged this competition.
They chose one winner from each individual school who entered.
An overall winner was then chosen out of all of the finalists and they received a 3D design of their tractor that was made by students from the University of East Anglia. All winners picked up a certificate, a goody bag and a trophy from the principal of Easton and Otley College, David Henley.
The overall county winner was ten year old Josh Kerrison from North Denes primary school in Great Yarmouth.
He said, “I wanted to make my design different from everyone else. So I added a static electricity source as part of the design. I had lots of ideas and I had an elevator for the stairs.” On winning he added, “This was the best I have felt since Christmas.”
Jenny Bellison is one of Josh’s teacher. She said, “It’s great that the school has been recognised – the competition was a great way to get young people inspired and I’m very proud of Josh.”
Organiser of the competition, Dani Chatten, said, “I’m incredibly passionate about farming and we thought this competition was a great way of engaging with youngsters in a fun way. We are very grateful to all the schools and students for supporting this and would also like to thank Ernest Doe and Sons Ltd for sponsoring and for judging. The RNAA for judging and the EDP for supporting us. We are delighted with the response and we very much hope to make this an annual competition.”
Lisa Blinkhorne from Ernest Doe and Sons Ltd, said, “We are very keen to work with educational establishments and share the love that we have for farming. As an industry and as a nation, we need to do more to encourage new generations into farming and this competition has been a great way of enabling us to get the message out that agriculture is incredibly exciting.”
RNAA Chief Executive, Greg Smith, said, “This is a terrific competition for Norfolk schools and it was a pleasure to be involved in the judging process. The RNAA support a number of projects that encourage a greater understanding of food, farming and the natural environment. This is a fun project that produced some very imaginative and exciting entries.”
