Wyke Farms Sponsors Scholarship Fund to Foster Dairy Industry Talent

2011 West County Dairy Award Winners Announced


Somerset, UK Ð 4th November, 2011 - The Dairy Crest / NFU West County Dairy Award has been won by Tom Burns, from Honiton. Tom was one of four finalists Ð including Toby Wonnacott, winner of the ÔWyke Farms AwardÕ  - selected for specialized knowledge, practical experience and commitment to the dairy industry.  The finalists were chosen from 33 applicants from four counties and will receive cash awards to continue their studies and careers in the dairy industry.

This is the eighth year in a row that Wyke Farms has contributed to the Dairy Crest / NFU Scholorship Fund responsible for The West Country Dairy Awards.  The 2011 ÔWyke FarmsÕ Award is a £1000 cash prize, awarded to Toby Wonnacott, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, Dorset who is studying agriculture at Kingston Maurward, Dorset. 

Sixteen-year-old Wonnacott demonstrated his knowledge of cow breeding, welfare and milk production at the final interview for the West County Dairy Awards with an impressive maturity, resulting in the presentation of the Wyke Farms award. 

ÒI am delighted that Toby has won this award. ItÕs imperative that our industry encourages young people such as Toby.  It is people like him that will ensure British Dairying with be competing on a world level over the coming years, particularly with new markets opening up such as China and India for our milk products,Ó said Rich Clothier, third generation family member and managing director, Wyke Farms.

Toby is a member of the Holstein Society, lending a helping hand at various dairy shows across the UK. He has taken an interest in diet consultation, breeding and genetics of cows to continue the improvement of breeding. 

The scholarship fund was set up in 1925 by United Dairies, the forerunner of Unigate Ð now Dairy Crest.Ê Wyke Farms and ABN Agri also add to the fund to encourage youngsters in the dairy industry so that the UK can have the efficient and competitive dairy sector that it deserves.

An executive committee manages the Trust, with three Trustees and an advisory committee. It is run jointly with the NFU and awards grants to children of farmers and farm employees who are over 16 years old, living in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, and studying a dairy related topic.Ê Applicants are assessed by interview and finalists are selected to be considered for the top awards.


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Wyke Farms Ltd is a family run company based in the heart of the Somerset cheddar-making region.  The art of traditional cheese making will never be lost on the Somerset farm where the Clothier family have been making cheddar in Somerset since 1861.

Today, Wyke Farms is the largest independent cheese maker and milk processor in the UK producing over 12000 tonnes of cheddar per year to the same award winning 100-year-old recipe.

The Wyke Farms brand is the 4th largest brand in the Cheddar category and the only independent company in the top 10 cheese brands with retail sales of £70million growing at 24% YOY (Kantar Worldpanel KPI Reporting 52 w/e 21 March 2010)        

Wyke remains a truly traditional family business.  IvyÕs grandsons Richard and Tom now run the cheese making operations with their father John, whilst her other two Grandsons David and Roger run the family dairy farming operations.  The four grandchildren share IvyÕs passion for cheese making where flavour, texture and taste are paramount.  They believe that this attention to detail is the reason that their cheese has won more awards at national cheese shows than any other.