ON Sunday February 23, teams from Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset Young Farmers Clubs competed in the south west area round of this year's debating competition.

The competition took place at the Rural Hub in Cheriton Bishop, Devon, where the teams debated topics from whether gender was the key barrier to success in the agricultural industry to whether there should be meat-free days in schools.

The Devon team, which consisted of Jack Stuart, Shelley Down, Fran Mobbs, Dan Grist and Jess Broom, managed to take the top spot and finish first.

They now go on to represent the south west at the National Finals later on in the year.

This competition is the senior public speaking competition within the YFC competitions programme, with Devon YFC also holding speaking competitions in Junior Reading, Junior Public Speaking, and Call My Bluff.

The area finals for these competitions will be held at the South West Area Weekend in Newquay in March.

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