Farmers Weekly Young Farmer of the Year 2013: Jonathan Skinner
Jonathan Skinner
Rokeles Hall, Watton, Thetford, Norfolk
Hard work is a fact of life for all farmers, but the sheer level of effort and entrepreneurial endeavour Jonathan Skinner puts into his business has marked him out as this year’s winner.
Managing your own farm business is not something that can be gifted – you have to earn it – and Jonathan is a prime example of what it takes to get a foot on the farming ladder.
| Farm facts |
|---|
|
| Winning ways |
|
Jonathan started farming six years ago in partnership with his mother when he seized the opportunity to purchase 121ha and start a mixed arable, poultry and sheep farm.
The timing for Jonathan to begin his farming career was far from perfect as he was just about to start university, but when the opportunity presented itself, he grabbed it. Since then land prices have soared and he’s never looked back.
At university he had his work cut out running the farm and weekends were spent sat on the combine or plotting new ventures and expansion of the business.
With a farming education that took place simultaneously on the farm and in the lecture hall, Jonathan was well ahead of his field in terms of farming acumen.
In six years Jonathan doubled the size of the home farm and increased the amount of land farmed by 500%. He’s now farming 435ha on three different sites alongside a large contract-rearing poultry enterprise.
The bronze turkeys are his “cream crop” and are produced to Freedom Food standards, with birds spending at least half their time outdoors. He is one of Gressingham Foods’ largest contract poultry rearers, with products in some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets.
At the heart of the business lies 435ha of light arable land on which Jonathan grows eight different crops. In 2012 he more than doubled the gross margin of his crops by getting on top of disease control, the additional sale of straw and a better marketing strategy.
“A dedicated young man who has worked tirelessly to expand his business, take on new opportunities and understand his market while farming to a very high standard.”
Dr David Llewelyn
Vice-chancellor, Harper Adams University
Perhaps the area where Jonathan really proved his depth of farming knowledge was his awareness of the limits of his light land and how this might affect the future sustainability of his business.
Organic matter is one of his prime concerns and he ensures all the poultry muck is put back on the land. He has also started trading resources with other farmers, recently exchanging straw for pig muck with a farmer in another part of the country, and is contemplating bringing beef and sheep into the rotation.
His controlled use of inputs is noticeable, and not just on the balance sheet, and in his short tenure there has been a marked increase in biodiversity on the farm. Wild meadows, beetle banks and skylark plots dotted around the farm have had a visible effect.
For Jonathan, relationships with the local community are just as important as his relationship with the land, and he takes on part-time labour to support jobs in the local area.
Having just completed his fifth harvest, he’s an old head on young shoulders, and if and when the public comes around to year-round turkey sandwiches, you can be sure Jonathan will have been behind it.
Sponsor’s message
“Jonathan’s enthusiasm and ‘can-do attitude’ shone through. His drive for innovation, coupled with his technical knowledge, gave him the edge to win.”
Chris Manley
Tesco
Nominate someone else or enter yourself for the 2014 Farmers Weekly Awards.