Farmers Weekly Awards: 2022 shortlist announced
The 2022 Farmers Weekly Awards finalists have been chosen. Read on to find out more about the 44 innovative farmers, entrepreneurial contractors, expert consultants and hard-working students that made our shortlist.
The judging starts now, and the category winners – as well as the overall winner of the coveted Farmer of the Year Award – will be named at our ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House hotel on Thursday, 6 October.
See also:Â Book your ticket for Farmers Weekly Awards 2022
Ag Student of the Year
1. Sam Allison, Birdham Road, Sussex
Sam has a non-farming background but has immersed himself in the industry and established a successful pick-your-own fruit business in Chichester, while working hard to finish his agriculture degree.
2. Ben Chilman, New House Farm, Herefordshire
Juggling work commitments on the mixed family farm with his studies, Ben is championing the importance of good mental health in farming through his own podcast, EweTurn.
3. Elin Protheroe, Cwmbryn Farm, WalesÂ
Elin is already proving to be an important ambassador for women in agriculture and is gaining recognition for her wool-handling talent, all while helping to run the family sheep farm.
Arable Adviser of the Year
4. Rob Daniel, Agrii, North YorkshireÂ
Rob advises 38 farm businesses across 8,000ha, focusing on all aspects of crop and soil health. He runs his own agronomy company, but also works alongside former employer Agrii.
5. Andrew Pendry, Agrovista, KentÂ
Former farm manager Andrew offers a full agronomy package to 42 arable and grassland farmer clients in Kent and Sussex, including advice on seed, crop protection products and precision farming.
6. Jock Willmott, Ceres Rural, CambridgeshireÂ
Jock specialises in farm management, business consultancy and agronomy. He is a partner in a new business offering independent and cutting-edge advice to progressive farmers and landowners.
Arable Farmer of the Year
7. Philip Metcalfe, Foxberry Farm, North YorkshireÂ
Combinable crops on the 191ha Foxberry Farm include wheat, winter beans, winter and spring barley, and oilseed rape. Philip adds value where possible and is achieving high yields, with first wheats averaging 9.36-11.51t/ha in the past seven years.
8. Will Oliver, Swepstone Fields Farm, LeicestershireÂ
Will is the fourth-generation of the family at the 850ha farm, and improving soil health is at the heart of his strategy. A diversified rotation sees grain maize grown, along with wheat, spring beans and potatoes.
9. Graham Potter, The Grange, North YorkshireÂ
Graham is a third-generation farmer on the 195ha farm near the River Swale, growing wheat, malting barley and oilseed rape on variable soils. He is a keen adopter of precision technology, including drones, and has increased soil organic matter levels with cover cropping.
Beef Farmer of the Year
10. Simon Cutter, Model Farm, HerefordshireÂ
Simon produces organic, pasture-fed beef for direct sale from his high-health herd of pedigree Poll Herefords. He runs a rotational grazing system alongside crops of lucerne, red clover and arable silage.
11. Edward Hulme, Merton Farm, KentÂ
Edward is in his third year of mob-grazing his closed herd of 400 cows. He is finishing cattle at 17-20 months, feeding a home-grown total mixed ration, including lucerne.
12. James Stafford, Pickwick Lodge Farm, WiltshireÂ
James buys in 130kg weaned calves, feeds them on 90% home-grown rations and finishes them or sells them as forward stores. The 250-head enterprise works well with the farm’s arable operation.
Contractor of the Year
13. Glover Agricultural Contractors, Hill House Farm, NorfolkÂ
The family-run Glover business offers a vast range of services across swathes of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, with more than 350 customers on its books and a stack of machinery in the shed.
14. Martin Hays Contracting, Averill Farm, DerbyshireÂ
A keen eye for costs, a pragmatic approach to machinery investments and a willingness to stay hands-on has seen Martin’s contracting outfit flourish for the past 27 years.
15. Vince Janes, Alverstoke, GloucestershireÂ
Vince takes a keen interest in machinery and agronomy to make sure he’s offering the best service to his customers, while carefully balancing the perennial challenges of cashflow, kit purchases and business expansion.
Dairy Farmer of the Year
16. Kevin Jones, Bryn Mawr, FlintshireÂ
The Jones family have cut costs and lifted milk quality in their 370-cow year-round calving herd. Arable land has been acquired to reduce exposure to feed cost volatility, while aiming for optimum rather than maximum output.
17. Aled Morris, Marian Mawr, Denbighshire Â
Strong technical performance indoors and at grass have allowed Aled to expand the family farm. A 30% pregnancy rate is achieved with 500 Holstein-Friesians in a system mindful of the needs of staff and the environment.
18. Catherine Pickford, Alford Fields Farm, SomersetÂ
Spring block-calver Catherine has moved tenancy, built a parlour, and expanded the herd, while lifting milk solids yield 4% and almost halving concentrate use. Attention to genetics, soil health, grassland and staff needs have made this possible.
Diversification of the Year
19. Ewan Irvine, Ardros Farms, Scotland
Along with managing a 283ha mixed livestock farm, Ewan breeds and trains sheepdogs on the Isle of Bute. He runs an online business called the Sheepdog School, creating videos for subscribers.
20. Kier Petherick, Stowbridge Farm, Cambridgeshire
Kier has diversified his farming enterprise by establishing an income from solar projects. The profits are leveraged to fund two water-based leisure businesses, Hannam’s Wake Club and Cambridge Aqua Park.
21. Tanya Spittle, Sheaf House Farm, GloucestershireÂ
Tanya and her husband, Tim, have a unique flock of sheep that are milked for cheese production. They wanted to find a use for the whey by-products, and ended up turning it into Europe’s first Sheep milk vodka.
Farm Manager of the Year
22. Richard Cross, Oxton Estate, Nottinghamshire
Conventional cultivations on a mix of soils have been replaced with a strip till system by Richard, who benchmarks against similar operations. His wide role encompasses several other enterprises on this diversified estate.
23. Michael Kavanagh, DGF & MAM Thompson Farms, ShropshireÂ
A gradual move to zero till, the introduction of sheep, improved soil organic matter and good yields on reduced inputs are among Michael’s achievements at Church Farm, where lambs are finished without concentrates.
24. Rob McGregor, LSB Pigs, Fakenham, Norfolk
Rob runs a high-performing 1,450-sow outdoor operation, currently moving to five-week weaning. He has pioneered many technical and welfare developments that have been taken up more widely in the sector.
Grassland Manager of the Year
25. Ian Boyd, Whittington Lodge Farm, Gloucestershire Â
In 2005, Whittington Lodge was a conventional, largely arable farm. Now it has a pedigree Hereford herd mob-grazing 70ha of herbal leys and 35ha of permanent pasture. The organic farm is driven by regenerative practices.Â
26. Peter Lord, Hinton Farm, SomersetÂ
Across multispecies leys, permanent pasture and parkland, Peter has fine-tuned grazing and forage production. This has enabled efficiencies in the beef and sheep enterprises and soya has been dropped from all cattle diets.
Livestock Adviser of the Year
27. Piers Badnell, Holly Cottage, DevonÂ
Piers is a dairy consultant focusing on herd productivity and farm profits for his clients across southern England in a fast-moving industry looking to adapt to the sharp rise in fuel and fertiliser prices.
28. James Daniel, Trebursye Farm, Cornwall
James specialises in dairy, beef and sheep grazing management consultancy, helping clients adopt a range of techniques that improve profitability and reduce environmental impact.
29. Fiona Lovatt, Egglesburn Farm, Durham
Specialist sheep veterinary surgeon Fiona is passionate about flock performance, health and welfare, and encourages and supports local vets to improve the service they offer to sheep farmers.
Mixed Farmer of the Year
30. Angus Gowthorpe, Approach Farm, North YorkshireÂ
Angus has applied regenerative agricultural principles across the farm, using herbal leys and mob grazing to cut beef production costs. He has also eliminated use of insecticides and plant growth regulators across his arable cropping.
31. Jamie Leslie, Scholland Farm, Shetland
Jamie runs complementary beef, sheep, pigs and arable enterprises, with a firm focus on grassland management. The system sees sucklers follow ewes and lambs, which has improved grass utilisation by 345kg DM/ day.
32. Stuart Mitchell, Whitriggs Farm, ScotlandÂ
In 2016, Stuart Mitchell replaced his 1,000-head ewe flock with 330 red deer, which he now runs alongside his organic beef and arable farm. Restructuring the business has greatly improved efficiency and reduced labour requirements.
Pig Farmer of the Year
33. Matthew Burgess, Manton Forest Farm, NottinghamshireÂ
Matthew runs an outdoor herd of 1,600 sows. He has a strong focus on herd health and sustainability, and also makes use of renewable energy sources.
34. David Fulton, Magherafelt, Londonderry
Second-generation farmer David runs a 180-head indoor birth-to-bacon unit. Genetics, nutrition and herd management have played a key role in improving key performance metrics.
35. Lizzie Murrell, Railway Farm, NorfolkÂ
Lizzie manages a 2,000-head finishing unit and collaborates with her vet, nutritionist and haulage company to prioritise animal welfare across the production cycle.
Poultry Farmer of the Year
36. Richard Pinfield, Park Farm Barns, Worcestershire
Richard focuses on attention to detail and data analysis to optimise performance across 24,000 free-range hens and 32,000 barn hens. Most eggs go to a national packer, though a growing proportion are sold direct to consumers.
37. Clive Soanes Broilers, Horn Hill Farm, East YorkshireÂ
Providing a steady flow of broilers to sister processing company Soanes Poultry, the business operates over six farm sites, housing up to 650,000 birds, with higher welfare lines for a premium market.
38. St Ewe Free Range Eggs, Ventonwyn Farm, CornwallÂ
Eggs from 200,000 hens, some owned but most contracted, are handled at the company’s brand new packing centre for distribution to discerning customers in the retail and food service sectors.
Sheep Farmer of the Year
39. Graham Lofthouse, Bankhouse Farm, GalashielsÂ
Graham has transitioned his farming enterprise from a high-input high-output operation to a grass-based outdoor lambing flock of Easycare ewes using rotational grazing and forage crops to extend the grazing season.
40. Andrew Phillips, Windsor Farm, PembrokeÂ
Andrew lambs his flock of Suffolk cross Mules indoors between January and mid-March to hit the early market. By running a younger flock, the business has been able to achieve better returns and lower barren rates.
41. Andrew Wear, Fernhill Farm, Somerset Â
Andrew takes a regenerative approach to his business, lambing a flock of Romney-cross ewes outdoors in high-density paddocks with lamb marketed and sold direct to customers from the farm.
Young Farmer of the Year
42. Dan Lethbridge, South Treviddo Farm, CornwallÂ
Dan, 27, runs 800 ewes and rears 150 calves a year in his own business. Part of his land comes from a council farm tenancy, and he also works full-time for a contractor.
43. Matthew Nichols, Manor Farm, North YorkshireÂ
Matthew, 29, became a partner in the family arable farm in 2018 and added B&B pigs to the business. He also has experience as an agronomist and runs a contracting enterprise.
44. Emily Pearse, Sheppark Farm, DevonÂ
Emily, 25, is not from a farming background but now works as a self-employed contract shepherdess. She also manages the beef herd at her partner’s family farm alongside her flock.