A DEVON agricultural student has won a Cornish Mutual young farmer bursary. 

Oscar Wallace-Cook, a full-time student at Bicton College in Devon, has received a further education bursary of £500. 

The judges said Oscar, who is studying a level 3 course in general agriculture, stood out for his ambition to run his own dairy enterprise. This passion is shown through his commitment to his academic studies and his work experience on a local dairy and beef farm. 

In his application, Oscar said: "I plan to use what I have learnt at Bicton to help me in my work experience placement and in my later life where I plan to run or own my own farming business.

"I’m keen to become a dairy farmer supplying direct to the customer. Whilst this would be difficult and ambitious, I believe it could be achievable as customers like to know where their products are coming from.”

Cornish Mutual has awarded four further education bursaries across the south west. The latest awards were expanded to include bursaries for students studying a Level 5 or 6 course together with one bursary winner selected to become the overall Cornish Mutual South West Agricultural Student of the Year.

The entries were judged by Cornish Mutual managing director, Peter Beaumont. 

“We were once again delighted to receive a number of high quality applications for our bursaries,” said Peter.

“Oscar displayed ambitious plans to start his own dairy business, despite coming from a non-farming background.”