Hemington farmer David Horler, who co-founded popular children's character Tractor Ted, has been honoured by the Council for Awards of Royal Agricultural Societies in recognition of his contribution to agriculture.
In a presentation at the House of Lords, he was awarded an Associateship of Royal Agricultural Societies by the Countess of Wessex who received a Fellowship from the Association on the same day.
Mr Horler was honoured for his work with Tractor Ted with special reference made to how the little green tractor has educated many hundreds of thousands of young children over the years on British farming and countryside matters.
He said: "I was thrilled to be asked to join this prestigious association and to accept the award not only for myself but also in recognition of the work of my Tractor Ted co-founder, Alexandra Heard, the excellent Tractor Ted team and the thousands of Tractor Ted little fans who have supported and are still supporting us with all our ventures. It was a real pleasure to meet the Countess of Wessex and particularly as she admitted that they have all the Tractor Ted DVDs back at home as he's a firm favourite with her family."
The Council for Awards of Royal Agricultural Societies was set up in 1984 with the principal aim of recognising services to agricultural.
Submission for the award takes on a rigorous process including nomination, supporting letters from two Sponsors who must be Fellows of the Association, a written application and interview.
Mr Horler said: "We have worked very hard to make Tractor Ted the success that it is today and he is very much part of my family's farm. We employ eight staff and run a team of seven sales agents across the UK, as well as distributors in the Republic of Ireland, USA and New Zealand.
"The head office is based in the old calving sheds and granary on the farm and we're all adept at taking customer phone calls one minute and herding cows the next.
"The day-to-day farm work is managed by my nephew, Tom Wheeler, but even he is now becoming involved with Tractor Ted as he's starred in a few of the latest DVDs."
Tractor Ted is an animated green tractor who presents real life farm and countryside stories to young children.
With a unique combination of DVDs, books and toys alongside live events and visitor attractions the little green tractor provides an entertaining, engaging and educational introduction to agricultural for children aged two to six years.
Read more: http://www.fromestandard.co.uk/Tractor-Ted-s-creator-rewarded-role-farm-stories/story-28845505-detail/story.html#ixzz41qEQBEKO
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