All you need to know for the Britain’s Fittest Farmer 2022 final

Having come through a gruelling round of qualifiers, 24 finalists in our annual wellbeing event will be put through their paces this weekend.

Held at Tom Kemp’s Farm Fitness gym in Essex on 17 September, the final will be a test of speed, power and endurance.

See also: Video: Britain’s Fittest Farmer 2021 – the final

Two new finalists have been added to the group of fitness fanatics bidding to be crowned Britain’s Fittest Farmer (BFF).

Here are their profiles, plus the full list of competitors and everything you need to know about the final.

Louise Rix

Age 35

Location Gloucestershire

Louise Rix © Richard Stanton

Louise trains at her local CrossFit gym three to four times a week, which has helped her build strength and endurance.

“The CrossFit workouts definitely help with mental resilience, as well as all-round physical performance,” says Louise, who works as a manager at carbon trading company Trinity Agtech.

An energetic dog and two horses to look after mean Louise leads an active lifestyle.

She is looking forward to testing her fitness and says BFF is a brilliant event to promote the importance of mental health awareness in farming.

“It has this brilliant meaning behind it, to promote the benefits of using physical fitness to improve your mental health and to get more of the farming community talking about that.”

Peter Eccles

Age 37

Location Perthshire

Peter Eccles © Richard Stanton

Peter likes to start each day with a 30-minute high-intensity interval workout and tries to get out on the weekend for a long run, usually at least 10 miles.

The farm manager at Ashmore, Strone and Dalmunzie Estates in Perthshire is looking forward to meeting other farmers who champion physical and mental fitness.

“I am hoping some of the other finalists will be up for doing some team events further down the line. I met some really good people at the qualifiers, so it will be good to meet some of the other finalists,” he says.

Peter, who was named Farmers Weekly 2020 Farm Manager of the Year, says exercising is his release and helps take his mind off the day-to-day stresses. “I am just trying to keep myself in good mental state and to physically feel well enough to do my job.”

BFF finals

Tune into the Farmers Weekly Instagram page (@farmersweekly) on Wednesday 14 September at 1pm to hear about some of the challenges Tom Kemp has set for the BFF finalists.

The competition takes place on Saturday 17 September between 10am and 3pm.

For anyone who wants to come and watch, the address is: Farm Fitness, High Cross Lane West, Little Canfield, Dunmow, CM6 1TD.