Farmers Weekly Awards 2020: Agricultural Student of the Year

Grace Welling, East Stratton, Winchester, Hampshire

Spend five minutes with Grace Welling, and you quickly glean she’s not someone who likes to sit still.

It’s a trait that stands her in good stead for a career in agriculture, especially because she did not grow up on a farm.

“If you’re not from a farming background you have to give 110% to prove you can do it,” says Grace.

Her determination to succeed, infectious enthusiasm and innate inquisitiveness mark out the 23-year-old Harper Adams graduate as our Ag Student of the Year.

These qualities shine through, whether she’s giving a talk to 150 potential new students at a campus open day, co-ordinating the Sprays & Sprayers Arena at a wet and windy Cereals or helping bring tug-of-war back to Alresford YFC.

Learning curve

A scientist at heart, Grace takes a measured and thoughtful approach to whatever she does, and likes to be in possession of all the relevant facts and information.

So in her gap year, and throughout her holidays from university, she threw herself into getting as much practical farming experience as she could, working with sheep, pigs, cattle, crops and kit.

She didn’t shirk the tough jobs, either, and that can-do attitude served her well through her Harper Adams years, where she took on the responsibilities of student ambassador and course representative.

Cruising is not a word in Grace’s vocabulary, says tutor Terry Pickthall: “Her considerable academic ability is backed up by something equally, if not more, important – commitment and hard work.”

In 2017, Grace secured a hard-to-get placement year with Syngenta and joined the Crop Trials team where she had a diverse and challenging role, much of which required working under her own initiative.

Looking to the future

Grace’s love of science has drawn her to a future as a grass seed agronomist, like her father. The self-confessed “weed-identification geek” shadowed him at every opportunity, helping her secure an Apha herbage inspection licence aged just 18.

It’s a niche career choice, certainly, but Grace is someone who always sees the bigger picture. “We have to keep prioritising innovation so we can minimise climate change but maximise production,” she says.

She recognises the need for a new breed of adviser who is proactive, not reactive, and places an emphasis on cultural rather than chemical controls.

“It’s clear that the traditional agronomist that turns up, tells you to spray something and leaves, is effectively a person of the past.”

YFC – which she joined aged 10 – has given her a love of animal husbandry, too, and she hopes to keep a small Charollais ram-breeding enterprise on a bit of local pasture.

While she wants to keep her hand in, she also sees it as a chance to better serve her future clients: “For most of the farmers I’ll be talking to, their priority will be the livestock, not the crop.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever learned all there is to learn,” says Grace, who aims to take her Facts and Basis qualifications this year.

It seems there’s no stopping the indomitable Grace. She has now secured a position with Germinal in a role that combines grass seed production and a focus on agronomy for seed producers, with trials on multispecies leys.

A word from our independent judge

“Grace really stands out both academically and practically. Her determination to work hard, do well and succeed was really highlighted by her lecturer. She has a clear passion for agronomy and a great understanding of a broad range of key industry issues.”

Jack Hopkins, farm manager, Lower Hope Farms