Myerscough named agriculture student of the year in Cumbria Farmer Awards

Oliver Wilson with David Hall - NFU Regional Director North

Oliver Wilson was announced as the winner in the category of Agriculture/Rural Skills Student of the Year in the ceremony last week.

18-year-old Oliver from Keswick has just completed a Level 3 programme in Agriculture (Livestock) at Myerscough College’s centre in Penrith. His family run Setmabanning Farm.

Oliver’s journey hasn’t been easy. Covid affected his schooling and he found it hard to complete the online studying for his GCSEs. During the pandemic lockdown, he enjoyed working hard on the family farm instead.

Oliver started on a Level 2 Agriculture course, where he was given exceptional entry, and was proud to become one of Myerscough’s inaugural intake at our new centre at Ullswater Community College in 2021, while retaking his GCSE in English language.

Oliver has worked so hard on his studies and is now in his final year of the Level 3 agriculture course, and is utterly determined to pass. As part of his efforts, Oliver undertakes a four hour round trip to Myerscough’s Preston centre once a week to further his studies by using the campus’s state-of-the-art farming technology.

Away from his studies, Oliver works hard at Setmabanning Farm, working with ‘Clough Head Limousins’, a fell flock of Swaledale+ Cheviot with 1100 breeding ewes 250 drafts with 300 replacements.

Oliver maintains a lot of machinery on the farm, and undertakes groundworks, digging and laying paths for improved facilities at their caravan site.

Oliver also has responsibility for lambing, often taking the night shift, and introducing cameras into the lambing shed to improve efficiency, and drag the farm into the modern age!

He also enjoys sheep and livestock work, and has a keen interest in butchery, where he is comfortable slaughtering and preparing his own poultry.

Oliver is also the youngest ever member of the Keswick Round Table, being heavily involved in fundraising events. Oliver will be leading a lambing tour on his own farm for other members later this year.

In the future, Oliver would like to travel and bring back new ideas to the farm, and look at farming systems overseas. He also has an interest in sustainability and would like to bring in solar energy and help improve efficiency and modernise certain aspects of the farm even further.

The awards are organised by Newsquest Cumbria.

Hailed as one of the best nights out in the county’s farming calendar, the awards showcased some of the county’s most outstanding food producers and landscape custodians. And alongside traditional farming sectors, such as dairy, beef, sheep and machinery, the awards also recognised students, agricultural businesses, and women in agriculture.

The awards ceremony was held in Wigton on Friday.