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Congratulations to Suffolk Holstein Club Chairman Helen Reeve for being awarded the presitgious Norfolk YFC 2011 Growing Business Award of £5,000.
It was certainly a case of fourth time lucky for Harleston young farmer and Alburgh resident, Helen Reeve at the Royal Norfolk Show this year with Helen scooping first prize in the 2011 Growing Business Award with her herd of pedigree Waveney Dexter cattle. The prize of £5,000, which was hotly contested, was awarded by judges Nicola Currie (CLA), Shane Barnes (Barclays bank) and Kit Papworth (Anglia Farmers) who were looking for the young farmer who would make the best use of the money.
After months of business planning and mentoring, Helen endured a gruelling ‘Dragons Den’ style interview, where she had to prove how the Award money would benefit her herd. Helen started keeping Dexter cattle at the age of 14 and after successful breeding and some careful purchases, the herd now totals 34 head with 19 of those being breeding females. All bullocks will be reared for meat production and it is this area of the herd that Helen plans to invest money into with marketing and publicity, adding value to the carcase with new ideas for burgers and recipe packs, equipment, the purchase of more stock and training.
At the 150 strong crowd at the presentation at the Show, Helen thanked her family and friends for all of their support as well as her mentor throughout the award, Rod Tuck, a local businessman. It was Helen who was travelling with Mr Tuck to London in 2010 who raised the alarm when he collapsed. Helen had the train stopped and arranged for urgent medical attention which saved his life.
Having been a member of the Farming and Business Forum (which is a sub-group of Norfolk YFC and now has over 40 members under the age of 35) since its creation five years ago, Helen who is the youngest ever chairman of Suffolk Holstein Club is also a past County Chairman for Norfolk YFC, is the current vice-chairman of the National YFC Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and works full-time as herdsman at the Depwade herd of pedigree Jerseys.
The money for the award was generously donated by Anglia farmers, Clan Trust, Norfolk Farmers Trust, Rackham Trust and the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association (R.N.A.A).
For more information on Helen’s herd of Waveney Dexter cattle, please contact Helen on hmreeve@msn.com.
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