A young farming organisation has revealed it will be forced to dip into reserve funds amid backlash over cancelling an annual party which raises £144,000 each year.

The National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs (NFYFC) announced earlier this month that it would be cancelling the 50-year-old tradition of hosting an annual convention for its members.

The decision prompted outrage from many members but now the group has admitted that it is likely they will need to use “reserve funds” to make up the money lost from the event and that a quarter of young people only join the organisation to attend the annual party.

Responding to the criticism the NFYFC appeared unfazed about the potential loss of members, posting: “Annual Convention only attracts about a quarter of NFYFC’s membership. The organisation is so much more than one event and is not available to a large proportion of the Federation who are under 18.”

They group went on to add that in the absence of the 2019 event “NFYFC will need to use some of its reserves to cover the loss of income in 2019".

The decision to cancel the event was made after reports of bad behaviour when the event was held earlier this year at Blackpool which attracted around 6,000 members.