Tips for entering

Farmers Weekly Awards 2013: Make your entry stand out from the crowd

How do you make sure your entry goes to the top of the pile?

“Good presentation helps, but it’s simply about giving us the information that makes you and your farming business stand out,” says Awards Director Debbie Beaton.

“The hundreds of entries received are read carefully by a panel of judges, who will be looking for evidence of the achievements that you have made over the past few years,” adds Ms Beaton.

Top Tips: How do you make your entry stand out?

• Tell us a story. Your business is probably the product of a generation of hard work. Judges will be looking for the ideas, skills and passion that enabled your business to grow. They will also be looking for a bit of foresight. How are you planning to take advantage of new opportunities? Give them the big picture.
• Get technical. Profitability in farming can come down to the smallest of margins, so we want to hear how you’re driving productivity and cost efficiency. From machinery and breeding innovations to labour restructuring and alternative marketing strategies, show the judges how you’re applying yourself to challenges of both today and tomorrow.
• Show us you’re a leader. In the eyes of the judges, farming is undoubtedly a business for the future and they want to know who’s going to be leading the way. From resource efficiency and environmental stewardship to new enterprises and perhaps a dabbling in ‘agvocacy’, what new frontiers are you pushing?
• Be creative. Don’t be afraid of offering us more than a few words on a form. The judges are an impressionable bunch and need to be shown as well as told why you should win. From promotional materials, photographs and even videos to letters of endorsement from farm walks, a bit of colour in the judge’s eye will go a long way.
• Start a dialogue. The world of marketing is shifting rapidly and the means by which we produce our food and energy is in the spotlight more than ever. Judges want to know how you’re working across the supply chain. Are you listening to what’s going on around you as well as talking a good game?

Sound too much like hard work? What’s in it for you?

• New opportunities: build your network and open new doors to industry clients, contracts and supplier deals.
• Independent advice: the process of being judged for the awards is a great way to find out whether you’re doing a good job!
• Put the best of British farming on the map: showcase the value of agriculture to the rest of society and get some free PR and marketing to boot.
• Recognition: soak up the support from the whole industry for all your hard work!
• Farming Oscars: Experience the biggest night in the farming calendar, celebrating with the great and the good in British farming.

Whatever you do, don’t hold back!