A SILSDEN woman has been named Young Farmer the Year thanks to her dedication to both farming and volunteering.

Georgina Fort, an award-winning sheep and cattle farmer, is already vice-chairman of the Yorkshire Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (YFYFC). The 29-year-old was this month named Young Farmer of the Year in the Yorkshire Post’s 2018 Rural Awards.

It was a combination of her passion for her farm and her willingness to give up her time to help others with her voluntary work with the young farmers, that caught the judges’ eye in the compettion.

Georgina farms a herd of 250 Silmoor Holsteins at Silsden with her father and sister, and operates her own sheep enterprise on the same farm, juggling everything with looking after her baby son Alexander.

She said: “I was really thrilled to win the award.

“I’d very much like to use the award to raise awareness of all the good work that YFYFC does and urge people to join and then - if they are already members - to go the extra mile and get more involved.

“As well as speaking up for women in farming I’m a big advocate of rural youngsters broadening their horizons and bringing as much experience back to the farm as possible.”