A SOMERSET farmer and co-founder of the popular children’s brand, Tractor Ted, has been honoured by the Council for Awards of Royal Agricultural Societies in recognition of his contribution to the practice and development of agriculture.

In a presentation at the House of Lords, Mr Horler 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.

Tractor Ted is an animated green tractor who presents real life farm and countryside stories to young children, and there are DVDs, books and live events for the kids to enjoy.

“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.

“Our 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!"