Nicola de Pulford from Harbertonford has been producing saucy farmers’ calendars for charity for a number of years.
She explains what happened: “The Farmers’ Calendars were first published in 1999 for the 2000 calendar which were just men, the next year I photographed men and ladies in two different calendars, as everyone asked why there was not a ladies calendar.
“It all started because farming was in such a bad state at that time due to the European export ban on British beef.
“I thought if they won’t have our agricultural products they can have our boys. Luckily it was a hit and orders came in from all over the world and still do as it’s all about a bit of fun and putting a smile on people’s faces.
“Until Covid I would travel all over the UK to take the farming pictures. Most of the time the models contact me to be included or it’s by word of mouth I often go to a farm to photograph one person and end up with two or three models.
“The models all get paid but don’t usually know this when they apply. This year’s participants are all fairly local.”
Farms for City Children was set up by Michael Morpurgo and his wife in the 1970s.
Harry, who is on the front cover and is Mr August, works for Riverford farm and lives in Totnes.
Ruby, who is Miss September, grows herbs for the local area.
Farms for City Children gives primary school children from disadvantaged urban communities the chance to become an integral part of one of their three working farms in Devon, Pembrokeshire and Gloucestershire for a whole week. During the week the children and their teachers live and work at the farms, explore the countryside, and find out where good food comes from. They discover self-confidence as they conquer fears, grow in self-belief as they overcome challenges as part of hard-working teams, develop new friendships, create stories and poems filled with the vibrant sounds and language of the rural environment and learn to see a bigger, brighter future than they might realise exists beyond their crowded city horizons.
Both calendars are for sale at Totnes post office, Chris Mc Cabe butchers and can be ordered from www.thefarmerscalendar.co.uk