Finalists of Young Farmers’ Bale Art Competition Announced

Six colourful and eye-catching works of art created using straw bales have been selected as the finalists in a national competition being run by Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC).

Over 50 entries were received in total with other popular bale art themes including trains, tractors, iconic Scottish brands and impressive models of the new Queensferry Bridge! The short-listed entrants produced a very high standard of artwork ranging from a collie dog, a bear and a selection of farm animals to Bill and Ben, a clown and a bride and groom!

The finalist clubs are: Thornhill Young Farmers (Dumfries and Galloway district); West Renfrewshire Young Farmers (Clyde and Central district); Crossroads Young Farmers (Ayrshire district); Vale of Alford JAC (West Aberdeenshire district), Strathearn JAC (Perthshire district) and Bankfoot JAC (Perthshire district).

This year SAYFC members were challenged to include the Scotch Lamb PGI brand in the bale art competition, the timing of which coincides with a major push by Quality Meat Scotland to raise awareness of the brand.

The young farmers are also hoping to inspire people, who are cheered by the sight of the bale art, to donate to STV Children’s Appeal, which supports children and young people affected by poverty in Scotland. 

A Justgiving Page has been set up so that people who are impressed with the young farmers’ works of art can make a donation in support of the Appeal, which has raised £13.7 million in the past six years, providing much-needed support to over 62,000 children in every region of Scotland.

TV presenter Lorraine Kelly, who is a trustee and huge supporter of the STV Children’s Appeal, will now judge the young farmers’ finalist entries and select the overall winner.

“This is a brilliant initiative by Scotland’s young farmers and Quality Meat Scotland and I’m really looking forward to seeing the six finalist bale art entries,” said Ms Kelly. 

The Scotch Lamb theme of the 2017 bale art ties in with a marketing campaign which QMS is currently running to inspire millions of Scots about how easy it is to cook tasty, quick Scotch Lamb meals.

The ten-week campaign aims to encourage shoppers to add lamb to their weekly shopping lists and promotes Scotch Lamb PGI as a versatile ingredient ideal for busy families to enjoy as a mid-week meal.

Jim McLaren, Chairman of QMS, said: “Our congratulations to the six finalists. We’re delighted the young farmers have chosen to showcase Scotch Lamb in this year’s bale art competition and we hope that their creativity will also serve to inspire the public about all the Scotch Lamb brand stands for too.”

Suzie Dunn, SAYFC Chairman, said: “Well done to the finalist clubs and to all those club members throughout Scotland who took part this year – a fantastic effort producing over 50 entries! It’s been great to see the Scotch Lamb brand taking pride of place in the bale art displays too. “