Polaris competition winner on why he doesn’t want to hand his prize back
The winner of the Great British Farm Off 2024 says he loves the Polaris General he won for a year so much that he now doesn’t want to give it back.
Nick Hopkins, who runs a 40-acre smallholding in rural Wales with his wife Felicity and their teenage children Rory and Jamie, won last year’s Great British Farm Off after showcasing how he uses his Polaris Rangers and Sportsman on his social media channels.
The competition celebrates British farming and showcases how off-road vehicles are a vital part of daily duties on farm and dealing with animals.
As Polaris continues with its search for a social media star for 2025, Nick shares how he has found the use of a Polaris General he opted to own for a year.
The General has gone down a storm, quite literally, and he says there is often a fight for its keys as it is the first of his fleet of Polaris vehicles to be taken out in the morning and the last one to come back.
In addition to the Polaris General, Nick also has two Polaris Rangers and a Polaris Sportsman.
Within a week of his prize Polaris General being delivered, it was thrown into action at the deep end when Storm Darragh hit parts of the UK and, in particular, Wales and south-west England.
The village of Capel Iwan where Nick lives was badly affected.
We were without power for a week and roads were impassable with fallen trees and debris. Within a week of having it, it was pushed into service and we were ferrying people around the village, carrying chainsaws and electricity board workers to help re-connect lines.
“It was practical and quick to get people around the village. Engineers were working as hard as they could in really difficult conditions and the General had the full cab, doors and windscreen which was nice when the rain was lashing down.”
As well as being immediately useful in an emergency, the General is used for day-to-day work on the farm.
Nick’s wife breeds American Paint horses and they have 20 on the farm at most times. They are sold on and used as show horses or for show-jumping and eventing.
The Polaris fleet is vital for being able to get feed to the horses and undertaking maintenance.
He said: “They are amazing horses, so laid back and chilled. We actually have three stallions on the property and they all get on, they are so easy to handle.
“The farm is on a bit of a hill. The Polaris are getting used four times a day for stock checks, getting feed up there, doing small bits of paddock maintenance, taking fence posts up.”
“As the kids have got older there is never one in the yard, but the Polaris are always on the go on the farm. The General seems to be the first one out and the last one back and there is a fight for the keys beforehand.
“The Ranger is practical and hard wearing, but the General is more fun and stylish yet is just as practical and useful.”
Nick’s Polaris journey started 15 years ago when he bought his first Polaris, which at the time was ten-years-old. A Polaris dealer in Derbyshire, based some 180 miles away, helped Nick find the parts he needed for it – and he has used the same dealer ever since.
It was here at Derbyshire Quads where Nick spotted details of The Polaris Great British Farm Off. He didn’t think he would win but thought it would be fun to show farm life with the horses and his dogs – two Bernese Mountain / Newfoundland crosses, two Labradors and a Pembrokeshire Corgi puppy.
The Polaris fleet continues to grow as Nick has just taken delivery of a new Sportsman 570, also supplied by Derbyshire Quads to satisfy the growing demand on the farm.
Nick says: “Ever since I bought the first one, it was 10 years old and I needed parts for it, I said, when I can buy a new one, I will buy it from Jake at Derbyshire Quads and I have had 5 or 6 from him now.
“Last Spring, we were looking for a new Ranger, took a trip to visit Jake to discuss it, saw the promotion and thought ‘that could be a bit of a laugh’.
“At that point we had an older Ranger and there was a lot of stuff we could take pictures of and do a bit of social media with. It grew from there and became really fun – I had no idea I would become an influencer and just went for it. It worked out quite well.
However, he says the Polaris General has proved quite the hit.
“I am not going to give it back and it is not going anywhere – they will have to prise the keys from me,” he joked,