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    15

    Jul 2024

    Last Updated: 15/07/2024
    Environment
    Environment

    Ex-Harrogate pupil wins farm competition

    by Fraser Russell

    | 15 Jul, 2024
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    john-haynes-farm-prize-1
    John Haynes (left) receives his prize.

    Former Harrogate schoolboy John Haynes has won first prize in a farm management competition.

    Mr Haynes, 40, attended Ripley Endowed Church of England Primary School and Harrogate Grammar School.

    Although he doesn’t come from a farming background, he was always fascinated by agriculture and cut his teeth on the local village farm.

    He went on to achieve a BSc in agriculture with business management from Writtle College in Essex.

    After learning his trade in the southeast, he took on management of a 1,200-hectare arable farm on the Essex and Hertfordshire border and has now managed it for 13 years.

    Mr Haynes previously placed in the top three in the farm manager of the year category at

    Farmers Weekly’s awards in 2019.

    His latest award came in the 2024 Essex County Farms Competition for farms over 300 hectares.