Farming Monthly National January 2015 | Page 56

| ATV The Suzuki KingQuad 400: this farmer’s company ‘car’ of choice “An absolute godsend,” is how award-winning West Dorset farmer, Judi James, views the Suzuki KingQuad 400 ATV she bought earlier this year. udi rose to fame last year when she was crowned UK Worker of the Year, a competition sponsored by Suzuki GB and Dickies to reward excellence in the British workforce. Few would have guessed when she began farming just six years ago at the age of 47 that Judi would see off 3,000 other competitors, including seven male finalists, to the prestigious award. Previously, Judi’s career was in the motor trade (she holds an HGV licence) and in horse racing, but her passion had always been to become a farmer. Finally, in 2008, Judi took the plunge and set up her own RSPCA Freedom Foods veal production unit on a 10-acre smallholding, while working full-time on a beef and arable unit at a nearby farm. The fact that Judi suffered a serious back injury at the age of 11 after being knocked down by a car makes her story even more remarkable. Judi says, “People are surprised when I tell them that farming saved my back. It was always at its worst if I sat too long, so farming turned out to be the ideal job for me and I b X