Farmers Weekly Photography Competition 2021 – winners unveiled

Thanks to everyone who entered this year’s Farmers Weekly Photography Competition.

We received thousands of submissions, showing everything from dramatic landscapes to top-drawer livestock.

Together, your photos give a wonderful snapshot of agriculture, the great outdoors and the people who live and work there in 2021.

See also: Tips for farm photography 

They’re all available to view in our gallery, and below you can see the winners, runners-up and highly commended entries in each of the eight categories.

We hope you enjoy seeing them as much as we enjoyed judging them – and thanks again to everyone who captured a slice of rural Britain with their camera, phone or drone.

The eight category winners will now go head to head for the overall first prize of £250, with £150 and £100 going to the people who took the second- and third-placed pictures respectively.

Watch out for the big reveal in January.

Livestock

Winner: “I was driving home from the lambing shed just as the sun was setting and couldn’t resist stopping to take some pictures of our Highland cows in the gorgeous light,” says Angharad Ward, who took it on the Isle of Islay.

Runner-up: A chilly morning on the family farm in Herefordshire provided inspiration for Tally Megan Thomas. “I couldn’t resist quickly grabbing my camera and snapping this shot,” she says.

Highly commended: Rob Clarke took this one while out shepherding when floodwater was rising at Churchover in Warwickshire. One of three generations still working on the family farm, Rob says they managed to escape most of the flooding.

Landscapes

Winner: Les Fitton was visiting Pendragon Castle, in the valley of Mallerstang in the Yorkshire Dales, when he noticed the sheep heading towards the ruins as the weather was turning.

“I had my camera with me, so I quickly walked towards the gap in the wall which I thought would lead the eye in towards the sheep,” he says. “Moments later, the sheep had all but disappeared.”

Runner-up: Mary Wilde was on holiday in the Isle of Mull in October. “As I drove from Dervaig to Laggan Bay, I was stopped in my tracks by the stunning view and light. Luckily, I was able to stop safely – not always easy on Mull due to the single-track roads!”

Highly commended: Matt Millington was “in the heart of  tranquil north Shropshire overlooking stunning farmland on a summer evening”.

Black and white

Winner: This was taken in Whitland, Carmarthenshire, by Ryan Lee at a neighbour’s farm when he was heading out to milk.

Runner-up: This was the scene that greeted Fiona Ralston just a few steps from her front door near Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders.

“It was so still and beautiful. It’s a fantastic place to live and you never tire of waking up to the view every morning,” she says.

Highly commended: Richard Heady was in the grain store when he spotted movement on the floor.

“I looked around expecting to give chase to a mouse, but found a lizard, probably about 17cm nose to tail,” says Buckinghamshire-based Richard. “It’s the first lizard I have ever seen on our farm, so it caught me by surprise.”

Pets

Winner: Agronomist Jack Richardson was walking sugar beet in Lincolnshire to check fungicide timings in the summer, accompanied by yellow Labrador Lyla.

Runner-up: Beauty the tabby cat, modelling for the camera. Jessica Yardley, who lives on a farm in Staffordshire, took the picture in her living room “where Beauty spends most of her time”.

Highly commended: Thanks to Will Young for submitting this one, taken on a farm at Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.

Young photographer

Winner: Amelia Jane Balls took this in Potter Heigham in Norfolk. “I like it because it looks like they are having a chat,” says the 10-year-old.

Runner-up: Well done to 13-year-old Charlie Carr, who immortalised a barley straw baling scene in this image.

Highly commended: Lucy Robinson, who’s now 15 but took this when she was 14, titled the image “Smile”. It shows seven-week-old pigs on the farm in North Yorkshire.

People

Winner: Stephen Mallender’s shot was taken at a pre-lockdown North East Derbyshire Ploughing Association match at Owlcotes Farm, near Chesterfield.

Stephen’s wife is a former association secretary and her late father, John Mason, was British Ploughing Champion nine times.

Runner-up: Bernard Noblett took this shot at the appropriately named White Coppice in Lancashire last New Year’s Eve. He was standing on the edge of the West Pennine moors looking down with a longish lens.

“The tree stood out from the snow and I spotted the family in the distance so just waited and hoped they would go near the tree, thinking it would make a good photo. The sheep wandering into the shot at the last minute were a bonus.”

Highly commended: Julie Blacow took this one of her daughter, Lily-Rose, at the local market, Bentham Auction Mart.

“I absolutely love taking photos and this one was just taken on my iPhone,” says Julie, who farms at Burton in Lonsdale, North Yorkshire. She entitled it “Just having a gander”.

Wildlife

Winner: Tracy Marsden had gone to the yard to watch the starling murmurations and, hopefully, catch the barn owl when this pied wagtail started walking along the gate as the sun was dropping.

“I like the way the light hits the gate, the silhouette of the bird contemplating the big step up – leg raised – and singing, never missing a note,” says Tracy, who took it at Whitton in North Lincolnshire, where her husband is a farm foreman.

Runner-up: Chris Noblett, who was brought up on a small farm, took this photo one January morning in Rivington, Lancashire, just a couple of miles from where he lives.

“I have seen foxes at this spot in the past, but it is hit and miss whether they are about,” says Chris. “Over 15 minutes, I took quite a number of photos of it; this one is when it became aware of three roe deer coming up behind it.”

Highly commended: Visiting a friend in Malvern, Charlie Morris spotted this bird’s nest in a sheep feeder when they went to feed the new lambs.

“We were amazed to see the beautifully created nest and the cute little chicks tucked up together,” says Charlie. “Obviously, they must have thought we were Mum bringing back the goods!”

Machinery

Winner: Former gamekeeper John Buckland immortalised this moment featuring the Northern Lights as the backdrop to an Argocat ATV when he was out in the early hours one day on a Scottish estate near Melvich.

Runner-up: Charlie Morrison was helping with evening harvest at Amesbury, in Wiltshire, when he got this photo of the two bits of kit working side by side. He called it “Massey Ferguson power”.

Highly commended: Charlie Carter called this one “Golden Lighting”. He took it during the winter wheat harvest at Kensham Farms in Buckinghamshire.