Tractor Ted '˜co-founder' honoured for services to agriculture

In a presentation at the House of Lords, David was awarded with an Associateship of Royal Agricultural Societies (ARAgS) by the Countess of Wessex who received a Fellowship from the association on the same day.

David 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.

“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,” said David.

“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!“ he added.

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.

“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,” said David.

“We employ eight staff on a full time/part time basis 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,” added David.

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.

Further details can be found at www.tractorted.co.uk.