Nine-year-old boy from Moreton Morrell wins national farming award

Mathew Price recently won the Young Innovator of the Year award at the National Young British Farmer Awards, after coming up with an idea to help protect his flock of sheep from blowfly.

Richard Price, Mathews father, said: “A passion for his flock of Pedigree Ryeland Sheep led to Mathew's innovative thinking.

“He is currently in his fourth showing season and is dedicated to improving both himself and his flock.

“Full of drive and determination, Mathew secured second place at the Kenilworth Show flock competition with four of his rams, successfully beating larger and more experienced farmers in the field.

“This year, the loss of a good lamb to blowfly led to Mathew's innovative thinking. His interest in technology, and love for farming combined, helped spark his imagination with an idea to develop a drone that connects to a phone via an app.”

The drone would self-fill with Crovect and fly around the field scanning the sheep and lambs for blowfly and maggots using heat.

The app would recognise a patch of eggs or maggots that had hatched and, using the drone, would apply a fan of Crovect onto the infected animal.

The drone would identify the sheep's tag number to keep track of its progress, allowing for quicker treatment and better care for the flock while using less chemicals. Following the application, the drone would return to its dock to charge and refill.

Speaking about his award win, Mathew said: “I was really happy to win the award as I was up against some really tough competition.

"The idea for the drone came about after I had some sheep of my own with maggots. I was really annoyed about it, and that's when I thought about using a drone to help with this problem."

Although this piece of farm equipment is in its early stages, Mathew's family said they aim to help him develop it in the future.

The awards took place on August 28, which saw the finalists gather at Cannon Hall Farm in Yorkshire.

The event was hosted by social media influencer Olly Harrison (Olly Blogs), with a guest appearance by Farmer Rob Nicholson.