A futuristic vertical farming business and an agricultural educational centre were among the winning ideas submitted for NFYFC’s Business Innovation Challenge, supported by Defra.
Joe Knight from Norfolk and Oliver from County Durham are the overall winners of the challenge, which was launched during National Young Farmers’ Week last year.
The competition asked YFC members to submit food and farming business ideas that could be launched in 2032 – NFYFC’s centenary year.
Entries were judged by industry stalwarts Jill Hewitt, CEO of the National Association of Agricultural Contractors (NAAC), Helen Wyman, Founder of TwoCan Mentor and Sally Heard, the former director of the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE).
Joe Knight has been a member of Downham Market YFC for three years and won the senior category of the Business Innovation Challenge after scoring highly from all three judges with his idea for a futuristic vertical farm.
“It feels surreal to win, especially impressing judges who all have extensive experience in multiple agricultural, business and research sectors as well as it being a national competition sponsored by Defra,” said Joe. “It made me realise that I have got a really good idea and that it is possible for it to work out!”
Joe came up with his idea around six years ago after watching a YouTube video by Tom Scott, who explored unique places around the world.
“Tom explored an underground system, which I thought would be a great place for a vertical farm, by utilising unused farmable spaces to be able to grow the highest yielding crops,” explained Joe.
“NFYFC’s Business Innovation Challenge gave me a reason to investigate further into current systems and whether it’s a financially viable option, which it was. Along with researching different crop types, which include sources of protein and carbohydrates which can go on to feed the growing population.”
Joe, who grew up on a small family farm, with around 60 acres, studied engineering at college before returning to his agricultural roots to study Agricultural Business Management at the University of Nottingham. He is currently on a placement at Eastgate Farm Ltd but has plans to put his business idea into action.
“The prize I chose for winning the challenge was a tour of the Midlands Agri-Tech Innovation Hub. I’m hoping to gain some experience in a vertical farm as part of my year on placement and with my engineering and agricultural background, mixed with the scientific understanding from University, I’m hoping to make a proof of concept to gain funding for my innovation to be scaled,” said Joe.
While his idea may be futuristic, the judges all felt it was realistic and praised Joe’s presentation skills too.
Jill Hewitt said: “Wow this is a cool idea and an excellent presentation. I love the idea of the container farm and bringing farming to the consumer in a city.”
Sally Heard added: “An excellent proposal, addressing local, national and international challenges of food production and food security within an uncertain geopolitical climate. A strong focus on environmental challenges and I particularly appreciated the community engagement and learning identified as part of the proposal.”
In the Junior category 12-year-old Oliver from Butsfield YFC impressed with his ‘school-like centre’ dedicated to teaching children where their food comes from.
Oliver hopes the idea for his centre will support his community and inspire more people to seek a future career in farming or buy food locally from farm shops.
“It feels great to be recognised by the judges for my business idea. Their feedback has given me much more confidence, not only in my idea but also in myself as a young farmer,” said Oliver whose family farm Texel cross, Beltex and Zwartbles sheep.
Oliver’s inspiration for his idea had roots in his clear understanding of the range of challenges facing farmers who are producing our food.
Oliver plans to become a mechanical engineer in the future, with a focus on creating agricultural machinery but would consider trying to get his idea off the ground with the support of volunteers in the North East before a nationwide expansion.
“I did use the NFYFC website to help plan my idea and add key features to my presentation, I would definitely recommend others do this competition as I found it very helpful,” said Oliver.
The judges felt Oliver had addressed some key industry issues with his idea and come up with a practical solution.
Jill Hewitt said: “Well done, a great effort and if this could be implemented it could go a long way to solving many of the serious problems we currently face in the industry!”
Jess Radnor from Herefordshire came second in the senior category for her idea of a new digital platform for farmers, land managers and advisors to input data into one system. Judges described it as a ‘valuable tool’ that could reduce the admin burden on farm.
Hannah Rees from Pembrokeshire came third with her idea for a community group that would connect farmers and the public to share facts about food production and farming.
“I’ve tried to work on the element of debunking the myths you see on TikTok. People who’ve spoken out about their experiences have helped develop this idea,” said Hannah who also felt her idea could support people’s mental wellbeing by including social events too.
Judges praised Hannah’s ‘heart and aim’ of the project and said it was needed inside and outside of the industry.
“It feels really special to be acknowledged at NFYFC level, let alone the glowing feedback,” said Hannah, a genetics consultant for Cogent Breeding. “Maybe in the future I’d love to see my idea come to life. Currently I’m working on establishing myself in my career and I really love working at Cogent. You never know in the future some of my customers might join my farmers’ pool or darts league or their children might benefit from my idea!”
The resources and materials made available for the challenge are now being moved into NFYFCs Agricultural Knowledge Hub, so they remain accessible to young farmers. The competition can also be run at a club or county federation level for those who want to encourage their members to plan business ideas for 2032.
