Former England rugby star and his family are crowned Norfolk's farming champions

A former England rugby star has proven himself a champion in a completely different field - after his family's farm was crowned the best in Norfolk.

Tom Youngs and his cousin George, the fourth generation of their family to run Sankence Farm near Aylsham, have won this year's hotly-contested Norfolk Farm Business Competition.

The former Leicester Tigers hooker, who played rugby for England with his brother Ben, returned to the family farm full-time after retiring from the sport two years ago.

Norfolk rugby stars Tom Youngs (left) and his brother Ben celebrate a Six Nations victory in Dublin (Image: PA)

He joined his cousin George, who had already returned in 2018 after gathering experience on farms in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Together, they have taken over the management from their fathers Nick and William, who had been farming the land for more than 30 years.

The family has embraced change and empowered its next generation to explore new ideas.

Tom and George's strategy has included a relentless investment in diversification, to give the business a more secure future as EU-era subsidies are being phased out.

Tom Youngs (right) with his cousin George at the family's champion farm near Aylsham (Image: Denise Bradley)

They said their success was built on tackling challenges head-on, accepting feedback, getting the best out of the team, and striving for constant improvement.

And these winning traits from an elite sporting mindset have helped push the family farm over the line in the competition.

"The farm was always my getaway from rugby," said Tom, 37.

"I always enjoyed it growing up, massively. I am very lucky to do one profession and then come back into a family business. I love it, and always have loved it.

"I have learned so much from my rugby career. You learn from your mistakes and you don’t make them twice. And of course, you carry it over with working as a team and trying to get the best out of a team.

"George and myself work very well together. George is very much an ideas man, he comes up with some great ideas, I am probably the one who might see the plan towards that idea.

"We are talking about two very different chapters in my life. Rugby was one chapter, but that is done and I have now turned the page onto a new chapter and myself and George are writing our own script.

"We entered [the competition] for bigger reasons than winning it. We wanted to get some very good judges here, people who farm all over the country, to get their opinions. But to come out and win it, we’re extremely happy and very proud."

The family farms 1,900 acres, of which about 1,000 acres is owned and the rest is contracted.

It is predominantly arable, but they also keep around 80 free-range pigs in the woodland, butchered locally and sold through farm shops and restaurants under the Youngs Farm Produce brand.

Free-range pigs on the Youngs family farm near Aylsham (Image: George Youngs)

That was among the first of a wide range of diversifications, including a livery yard with 27 stables, holiday lets, 25 self-storage containers, and an agricultural workshop - and they have secured planning permission for a campsite with 36 pitches and six lodges.

The diversifications are mainly managed by George, while Tom focuses most of his time on the arable operations.

Tom said his father Nick, also a former England rugby international, still does much of the farm's spraying, while George's father William has retired.

"But what both have done is let us take the reins of the business," he added.

"They are there very much as a sounding board and if we were going up the wrong alley they would say: 'Let’s have a discussion'.

"But on the whole they have been very open about our ideas and how we want to do it. Often what they would say is: 'Let’s get some professional help'.

"I think if you can absorb that sort of stuff you will achieve a lot more. If you are one of those people who cannot digest feedback, and honest feedback sometimes, you will be stood still with your head in the sand. You have got to be open-minded to new things.

"It is not easy for them, but they have done a good job of letting us take the baton. We are only custodians of the land and we are going to pass it on to the next generation, so we have got to look at the future of this business. It cannot sit still."

Tom Youngs (left) with his cousin George at the family's champion farm near Aylsham (Image: Denise Bradley)

George, 30, added: "When you get a new generation on the farm, there are two ways you look at it. From our point of view, you come in with a lot more enthusiasm if you are allowed to get on with it, rather than if you are held back for a few years.

"We didn’t have to change everything, it was running well before we came back. But we wanted to put our own stamp on it.

"We have been quite bold in what we have done, so it is nice to know we are potentially doing the right thing."

As well as their fathers, the pair also paid tribute to the rest of the farm team - farmworker Tony Wright, agronomist Jo Lowe, secretary Emily Moore, and their consultant Bradley Hurn at Brown & Co.

The competition was run by the committee behind the Aylsham Show. A celebratory farm walk will be held at the Youngs' farm on Tuesday July 9 from 5.30pm. To register, email eventadmin@theaylshamshow.co.uk.

Norfolk-born rugby player Tom Youngs won 28 caps for England between 2012–2015 (Image: Tim Ireland/PA Wire.)