A FORMER farmer from the Selby area has been selected as Agriculture Student of the Year.

Colin Patrick of Barlby achieved a first class degree in organic agriculture at Aberystwyth University despite the odds being stacked against him. He is 45 and dyslexic.

His success has led him to be chosen as the NatWest BSc Agriculture Student of the Year.

Mr Patrick said that while having dyslexia made his degree more challenging, his age was actually a bigger disadvantage - "particularly in my first year, because I didn't have as strong a background in science as the other students, who had come straight from school."

He plans to look for work advising people about agricultural issues. It was his desire to move into advisory work that led Mr Patrick, who had been working as a farmer, to study for a degree in his forties.

Updated: 09:17 Thursday, August 01, 2002