Lincolnshire Show 2023: The search for Britain's Fittest Farmer

• Video report by Chris Dawkes

The latest round of qualifying to find Britain's Fittest Farmer has been held at the Lincolnshire Show.

The competition was started in 2018 by industry magazine Farmers Weekly, as a way of stimulating the conversation around the physical and mental health of farmers in a more light-hearted way.

This year's show hosted the second of three qualifying heats, with the final due to be held in Essex in September.

There are four categories for entrants - under and over-40s for both men and women. The leaderboard is posted online.

The competition website says it is "more important than ever" to make sure farmers stay fit and healthy as the industry becomes more mechanised and office based than before.

It says farming can also be an isolating job, therefore it is "vital" for farmers to focus on their own mental health and wellbeing.

Charles Anyan, an ambassador for farmers charity the Farming Community Network and one of the judges this year, says farmers are "notoriously bad" at speaking about things that are troubling them.

"Hopefully this competition will get them talking and do a bit to end the stigma on mental health, and hopefully [the competitors] will become ambassadors for not only physical fitness, but mental fitness," he said.

The top 10 in each of the under-40 competitions and up to five men and women from the over-40 qualifiers will go through to the next round – an interview with the judges assessing the competitors' mental health awareness and suitability to be an ambassador in the industry.

Then the athletic farmers head to the final on 17 September, where they will take on a series of events designed to test their speed, power and endurance.

Once complete, their scores from the interview will be combined with those from the final - but only one person in each category can ultimately be crowned as Britain's Fittest Farmer for 2023.

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