YOUNG farmers from Wiltshire joined their contemporaries from across England and Wales at a national competitions weekend.

Organised by the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs, the event was held at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, on October 7 and 8.

Members of the Wiltshire Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs won second place in the intermediate (21 and under) Brainstrust competition, which tests their debating skills on topics ranging from politics and agriculture to reality TV.

The Wiltshire team included 20-year-old chairman Georgina Robinson, from the Melksham YFC and Kitty Bishop, Edd Akerman and Will Akerman from the Malmesbury YFC. There was more success for Wiltshire, with the junior public speaking team from Melksham YFC, made up of Olivia Cole, Ed Lake and Becky Padfield, pictured below, taking third place.

Both the public speaking and Braintrust teams had come through the south west finals, held in Weston-super-Mare in March.

Helen Darvill, county administrator for the Wiltshire federation, said the success had bred a winning mentality.

"We are quite a small county federation compared to Somerset but this year we are entering everything to give the other counties a run for their money," she said. "They had a good weekend and came back on a high."