The deadline for entries to the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards has been extended from 30 April to 4 May.

Farmers Weekly runs the awards to recognise and reward producers for their technical and business skills, innovation, commitment to the industry and hard work.

The awards showcase the best farmers in the country by telling their stories.

The aim is to spread best practice, inspire others and influence the public about the role that farmers play in today’s society.

There are plenty of reasons to take time out and get your entry in for one of the 15 categories.

Not only could it lead to industry recognition for you, your family and your team, but previous winners have said it has also given them the ability to negotiate better contracts.

Entering is really easy and you can do it online. If you know of another farmer you think should enter you can also nominate them.

Visit the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards site

Enter the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards 

There is still time to get in your entry for the 2012 Farmers Weekly awards – or nominate a friend or colleague who you think would make a worthy winner.

There are 15 categories covering all sectors of the industry – from dairy to diversification and countryside to contractor.

There are loads of good reasons to enter – from getting recognition for you and your team to opening doors to new industry contacts, buyers and suppliers.

So if you are someone who is proud of what you are achieving with your business and think you have a good story to tell, then get working on your entry.

To find out more visit our dedicated page or call Alma Watson on 020 8652 8026. The deadline for entries and nominations is 30 April 2012.

Are you an arable farmer who is successfully coping with drought conditions and rising disease pressure? If you are an efficient grower, with a vibrant farm business, you could be an ideal candidate for the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards.

Who you need to impress

Judging the category this year are Strutt and Parker’s Jock Willmott, Farmers Weekly‘s arable editor Richard Allison and last year’s winner Colin McGregor (pictured).

For Jock Willmott, the ingredients for success are clear: “I will be looking for businesses that punch above their weight, given the resources at their disposal; businesses that are consistent and focused on profitable farming; businesses with an eye on the future.”

More specifically, the judges are seeking clear thinking in five key areas:

• Crop productivity

• Volatile prices

• Climate change

• Energy costs

• Staff management

Optimising crop production is the heart of every arable enterprise, so what is being done to improve this? Better prices can encourage experimentation, so how are you investing in new varieties and growing techniques?

But volatile market prices, and ever-increasing input costs, demand clear buying and selling strategies, accommodating the cash demands and working capital requirements of a farm’s various enterprises.

Erratic weather patterns this spring also highlight the need for farm-specific strategies that can cope with our increasingly challenging climate.

Every business is also grappling with rising fuel and energy costs, with a fresh approach to sourcing, purchasing and storage required, maybe including changes to on-farm operations, using fuel efficient technologies and even producing your own energy.

Finally, well-motivated staff are a big driver of success. Having informed decision makers in the team helps ensure the attention to detail that is so necessary. So, are you developing your workers – whether employees or family labour – agreeing mutual goals to retain them and maybe incentivising them in novel ways, too?

The judges look forward to hearing from Britain’s top arable farmers. Are you one of them?

How to enter

Visit the Farmers Weekly Awards website and enter by filling in the online form. You can also nominate a family member or neighbour. Entries must be in by 30 April 2012.

Whatever type of farm you run, there will be a category for you in the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards – and the clock is ticking for entries.

There are 15 categories in total, covering every sector of the industry. So whether you are a contractor, adviser, arable, beef, sheep or pig farmer, we want to hear from you.

Farmers Weekly runs the awards to recognise and reward producers for their technical and business skills, innovation, commitment to the industry and hard work.

The awards showcase the best farmers in the country by telling their stories. They aim to spread best practice, inspire others and influence the public about the role that farmers play in today’s society.

Our previous winners have come from farms of every size, shape and form. We have had finalists from farms under 100 acres and others running large-scale operations over thousands of acres.

It is not about how big you are – it is about your approach and how that translates into a profitable business for you and your family.

If you don’t want to put yourself forward, perhaps you have a friend or neighbour you think deserves a nomination – it only takes five minutes.

• To find out more, visit the awards website or call Alma Watson on 020 8652 8026. The deadline for entries and nominations is 30 April 2012.

Despite the upsurge in renewable energy generation and drives for energy efficiency on farms, the dependence of British agriculture on fossil fuels is still mildly unhealthy. In the Green Energy Farmer of the Year category for the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards we want to do something significant to change that.

The green energy industry was nourished from agricultural roots. It’s development pioneered by entrepreneurial farmers who stuck their neck out and invested in renewable energy because it fitted with their business, their geography and their mindset. But during a period when the selling of green energy opportunities is seemingly ubiquitous, this pioneering role often goes unnoticed.

Since then wind farms have shot up, solar panels have marched across the tops of buildings and biomass boilers have nestled themselves into outbuildings up and down the country. This is all well and good, but is it enough?

The early pioneers put down an ambitious marker, but the goal posts have shifted and more work needs to be done.

All three Green Energy Farmer of the Year finalists last year showed that there was a new breed of farm energy pioneer setting the pace. For them energy management was not handled off the side of the desk, when they had time, but was firmly integrated not just into their business, but also the local community and surrounding environment. It is these sorts of businesses that are shifting the goal posts towards a much needed weaning off fossil fuels.

Last year’s eventual winner, Neil Gourlay, who clearly understood the economical, environmental and social dimensions of green energy, was a case in point.

“The green revolution is going to keep people in rural communities and the great thing about wind or hydro is that it can be used on marginal hill land like this and not interfere with food production. It gives us a great sense of enjoyment doing our bit for climate change,” he told the judges.

So what will we be looking for this year? Category judge, Andrew Kneeshaw gets to the nub of the issue. “Just in the same way that a bible printer cannot expect eternal salvation, a renewable energy producer cannot necessarily expect to be regarded as a great environmentalist.  How someone uses energy is arguably more important than the fact that they generate it,” he said.

Whether you’re finding novel ways to conserve energy across different parts of your business, working with your neighbours to get a community energy scheme up and running or building energy infrastructure into the succession plan of your business, we would love to hear from you.

How to enter?
Entering the Green Energy Farmer of the Year category is straightforward. Visit www.farmersweeklyawards.co.uk and enter by filling in the online form. If you don’t want to enter your own business this year, perhaps nominate a friend or neighbour whose effort you feel deserves the recognition.

More than 10 years ago, a group of Dumfriesshire beef producers came together to develop an efficient and sustainable supply chain right through from producer to finisher to abattoir.

And for finishers Scott Henderson, Carswadda, Beeswing, and Margaret Kingan of Lochhill, New Abbey, it was the restrictions imposed by Foot and Mouth Disease which acted as an impetus for them to adopt this new approach.

How does the system work?

Every year Mr Henderson and Mrs Kingan buy in about 3,000 beef crosses – including Limousin, Angus and Charolais – which are mainly sourced from about 15 suckled calf producers in the surrounding area.

Animals are bought aged between 10 months to one year old, and are sent for slaughter at 18 to 24 months old – bullocks are finished by Mrs Kingan, and heifers by Mr Henderson.

The pair of finishers are keen to ensure a tight line of communication with the suckled calf producers, and they supply them with feedback on how their cattle grew and killed out.

Mrs Kingan says: “Foot and Mouth Disease was a turning point in everyone’s lives here and because we were the only finishers in the district at the time, we decided to team up together and buy cattle direct from producers as we couldn’t buy them from the markets.”

Stock are fed wholecrop cereals (mainly barley), grass silage, and home-grown beans for protein, and are at grass for the summer and finished inside.

“When we put them out to grass they are all batched by weight, and weighed every couple of weeks and recorded using cattle EID tags,” explains Mrs Kingan.

In addition, the pair say the health benefits of buying in cattle from reliable sources works for both them and the producers – they were able to feed back to one producer that he had a BVD problem in his herd, after discovering the disease in bought-in stock.

The cattle achieve an average daily liveweight gain of 1kg – something which the finisher duo attribute to maintaining a consistent diet, selecting the right cattle, and paying attention to the kill sheets from the abattoir.

What’s it like for producers?

One producer supplying Charolais cross cattle is fellow Dumfriesshire producer and Farmers Weekly Green Farmer of the Year 2011 Neil Gourlay from Auchencheyne, Moniaive.

He says: “They both used to buy my calves when they were sold at market, prior to Foot and Mouth Disease – and they now purchase about 95% of my spring calves.

“The advantage for me is that I get feedback to see how the cattle are performing, and if they are not growing as well as they should be, it means I might need to change my system. Also it’s very flexible – for example, one year the grass came late and I had plenty of silage so I kept them through until May.”

In addition, Mr Henderson says producers, such as Mr Gourlay, are provided with comparative data on other finished cattle sent to the same abattoir – this means they can compare their cattle’s performance with that of other suckled calf producers in the area.

What is the role of the abattoir?

According to Mr Henderson, this new approach to beef production is going one step further by maintaining a close relationship with the abattoir – A K Stoddart in Ayr.

This is echoed by Stoddart’s operations director John Craig who describes the finisher duo as the “winchpin” in the beef supply chain, acting as the messenger between the abattoir and the suckled calf producers.

The trio regularly speak on the phone, as well as holding meetings every six months to discuss economics and the business relationship going forward.

“On the day of slaughter, they are given feedback on individual animals – weights, grades, performance in terms of kg/day and £/day – as well as any information on problems such as fluke,” adds Mr Craig.

“Mrs Kingan and Mr Henderson are more open and take that information back to the producers – it has to be to everybody’s advantage. The beef has a finite price and the animals has a finite price, so it’s all about maximising output.”

If you can avoid a depression in feed intake, you can maintain and improve performance in weaners – that was the key message given to producers by nutritionist Mick O’Connell from Devenish Nutrition.

And good performance post-weaning is reliant on four key factors – maximising sow milk output and weaning weight, pre-weaning feed intake, post-weaning feed and water intake, and diet selection, he said.

However, first and foremost, producers looking to boost weaner performance must ensure weaning is as stress-free an experience as possible.

Mr O’Connell said: “With weaning there is a huge level of inevitability – the sow is there one minute and then gone the next – and it’s a very instantaneous effect. So on weaning day if there is anything which can add to the stress of the animals, you need to try and remove that from the system.”

And when deciding when to wean animals, he recommended weaning when the litter weight is 90kg, at roughly 26 days old, with a view to increasing this weight by 11-12.5kg, 27 days post-weaning.

Feed and water intake

Feed and water intake is key to good weaner performance, and the more a piglet eats before weaning, the more it will consume after weaning, said Mr O’Connell.

He recommended creep feeding piglets, and said the time and money spent on this form of feeding was recouped in performance benefits.

And to stimulate creep feed intake, producers should start the system early on a “little and often” basis, and feed a highly digestible diet when the sow is active, he added.

In addition Mr O’Connell described water as the “forgotten nutrient” on many pig units, and said as an industry we often forget that water intake stimulates feed intake. He urged producers to ensure they were providing a clean and plentiful water supply to their weaners.

When selecting a diet for weaners, Mr O’Connell said producers should work with their nutritionist to select one which suits the animals on their system. And he said high specification diets offered better feed conversion.

Top tips for weaning success

• Avoid any stressors at weaning
• Encourage pre-weaning feed intake with creep feeding on a ‘little and often’ basis
• Don’t forget water intake drives feed intake so ensure a minimum water flow rate of 450ml/minute
• To boost post-weaning feed intake, ensure at least 9cm feeding space for every pig, and where possible try and use dry multispace feeders
• Don’t scrimp on quantity or quality of feed; go for farm-specific diets

Striving for early growth

Getting weaners off to a good start is crucial to the success of the 425 sow indoor unit at Alexander and Angell Farms, Gloucestershire.

And according to farms manager Roger Meadows, attention to detail is the key to the farm’s weaning regime, where piglets are creep fed and split into groups based on size rather than sex.

“One of the things we do is feed them creep from three days old. We start at just a handful and that builds up to ad lib creep feeding from a hopper at three weeks old,” he said.

“And when we wean them at 27 days we are aiming for them to weigh 8kg, and we separate the 30 smallest piglets and keep them in a separate nursery so they can be fed a little bit differently.”

Recording is also instrumental at the unit, and all piglets are given ear tattoos on their day of birth with a letter to signify breed and a number for week of birth.

“When we come to select these pigs, we run them all through a crush and record their weights against their ear tags, so we know exactly how heavy these pigs are for their age,” added Mr Meadows.

The aim is to reach 20kg at 55 days old, which is the equivalent of a daily live weight gain of 450g/day in the nursery accommodation; at present the group of small piglets is achieving 24.1kg at ten weeks old which equates to 417g/day liveweight gain in their specialist accommodation.

The average age of sale is 152 days at a weight of 99.3kg; this equates to an average daily live weight gain of 735g/day from weaning to slaughter.

“We are big believers in measuring and monitoring your performance, so challenge the status quo and don’t be afraid of change,” added Mr Meadows.

 Outdoor weaners: stupid or sensible?

Outdoor pig production poses many challenges, namely the extremes of the weather, but through attention to detail weaners can get off to a good start, as Cameron Naughton shows on his 500 sow unit at West End Farm in the South West.

“Allowing the pigs to have separate air spaces is key. When I bought the current herd, all the weaners were in one building and they were all sick, and the only way I thought I could sort that out was to move the pigs outside into separate airspaces,” said Mr Naughton.

Piglets are creep fed for ten days prior to weaning, and all the pig houses are washed and moved to fresh ground in between batches. Weaned piglets are sorted into batches by size and sex – small, medium and large, and boars and gilts.

A two-tier feeding system is in place for weaned piglets, with one diet for large and medium pigs, and one for the smaller pigs.

Asides from providing a warm, clean environment with plenty ventilation, Mr Naughton said ensuring an adequate supply of water is essential for boosting weaner performance.

“Water is the biggest challenge, and we use water barrels which feed water into troughs with bite drinkers. They are easy to clean and help make sure all pigs can drink whenever they want. The barrel means there’s a reservoir of water when we get freezing temperatures in the winter,” he added.

 Feeding probiotics to pigs – the next generation pig feed?

Pig producers could soon be able to boost feed conversion by more than 10%, as work begins on the development of the next generation of pig feed.

And it is work carried out by Denise Kelly from the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health in Aberdeen, as part of the GutWEAN Project, which is driving this new development in pig nutrition.

“There is one key to driving immune development and that’s bacteria, and we are well on the way to developing the next generation of probiotics,” she said.

She said the microbiota found in the gut were crucial to the development of a piglet’s immune system, and without bacteria there is no immune system.

The GutWEAN project identified more than 600 strains of microbiota found in a pig’s gut, and trials were then carried out comparing the impact of different environments – outdoor and indoor reared with antibiotic intervention – on microbiota development.

Results showed indoor-reared piglets, given antibiotics, were more likely to develop proteobacteria (the “bad” bacteria in the gut), and those reared outside in a “dirty” environment had a much more developed immune system.

Certain strains of microbiota have since been isolated and are now being developed for use in a pig milk replacer, with initial trials showing an improvement in feed conversion of more than 10%.

“Microbiota are really important in controlling immune development, and with the knowledge that we have, we think we are ready to provide a next generation probiotic which will hopefully help producers to reach their targets,” added Prof Kelly.

Prove your pig farming credentials

Are you a pig producer already hitting the two tonne sow target? Have you employed technologies to do this and what is the secret to efficient production? If you are an efficient producer, who is passionate about the pig industry, then you may be an ideal candidate to enter the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards.

Who you need to impress

Judging the Pig Farmer category this year are National Pig Association general manager Zoe Davies, Farmers Weekly’s Jane King and last year’s winner Stuart Bosworth.

According to Zoe Davies, the winning farmer must be someone who runs a fantastic business, understands and inspires their staff, and is always striving for improvements in productivity, welfare and customer focus.

How to enter

Entering the Pig Farmer category is straightforward. Visit http://www.farmersweekly.co.uk and enter by filling in the online form. If you don’t want to enter your own farm, nominate a family member or neighbour. Entries have to be in by 30 April 2012.

Inspirational and resourceful are just two of the words likely to be used to describe 2012′s Farmers Weekly’s Farm Manager of the Year.

Farm management’s challenges come in many forms, from the countless day-to-day complications to the big structural decisions that can change the direction of a business.

Our winner this year will be meeting challenges like these and many more.

For Charlie Russell, the 2011 Farmers Weekly Farm Manager of the Year, the accolade has added up to so much more than a name on the trophy and farming’s best night out of the year.

The rewards have included a higher profile for him and his team at the 5,000ha Glenapp Estate in Ayrshire, as employers, suppliers and customers.

“This has allowed us to attract some top calibre candidates to work for us, forge even stronger links with our customers and suppliers and emphasized our wish to exceed expectations in everything that we do.”

Charlie also values the award for the recognition it offers to the whole team. “All their hard work and commitment to our various innovative projects has started to pay back.”

One unexpected benefit of winning was an invitation to be Farmers Weekly’s ambassador on a unique trip with charity Farm Africa.

He will see first-hand the challenges faced by farmers in Africa, learn about some of the innovative projects that are helping them and bring back ideas that are relevant to UK agriculture.

Winning ways – what the judges want to see

Charlie Russell will be looking for someone who:

• Inspires others
• Maximises sustainable profitability by utilising all resources available to them
• Improves the biodiversity and environment of their surrounding area
• Working with others for mutual benefit
• Improves the public and political awareness of agriculture

Independent judge Francis Mordaunt will be looking for someone with a strategic plan that has taken into account the location and resources of the business and likely future government support and policy change

He also wants to see excellent technical and financial skills, staff leadership and development and awareness of environmental issues.

See more

• Find out more about the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards including how to enter see our dedicated site

Farm workers are the hidden gems of UK agriculture. They work hard throughout the year and at busy times are called upon to do prodigious hours at the wheel of a tractor, combine or forage harvester. Without them, British farming would quickly grind to a halt.

Yet they are often an almost unseen workforce, getting on with the job without fuss and often without any need for supervision. They toil in all weathers, can turn their hand to almost anything and are wholly essential to the smooth-running of the farm business.

Their closeness to the day-to-day farming tasks also means that they are often in a good position to improve the efficiency of the farm, cut costs and boost profits.

If you’re a farmer and this description fits one or more of your staff, you have a great chance to edge your star farm worker a little bit into the limelight.

How’s that? By entering them into this year’s Farm Worker of the Year category in the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards, which is sponsored by Isuzu.

A team of judges will be visiting the three finalists on their farms and all three will be invited to a lavish ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London in October.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a 4,000-acre combinable crops farm in Lincolnshire or a small dairy enterprise in Lancashire. What we’re looking for are workers who are loyal, enterprising and hard-working, ready to take on challenges and truly essential to the smooth-running of the farm.

Equally, if you’re a farm worker and want to enter the competition, you can self-nominate.

Last year’s winner

The winner of the 2011 Farmers Weekly Farm Worker of the Year Award was Liliya Kucher, a pivotal staff member at Andrew Green’s vegetable business at Rook Row Farm near Malvern.

The farm grows 60ha (150 acres) of runner beans, tenderstem broccoli, mange tout, sugar snap peas and courgettes for the big supermarkets.

How to enter

Just go to awards website at www.farmersweeklyawards.co.uk. There’s a simple form to fill in and entries have to be in by 4 October 2012.

Are you hoping to win a title in the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards? If so, find out who it is you’ll need to impress with this introduction to our judges.

Finalists are selected by an independent panel of experts that includes an expert for that sector, last year’s winner and a member of the Farmers Weekly editorial team.

Three short-listed finalists will be selected from the entries for each category by this judging team.

Each of these finalists is visited by the category judging team during the summer.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Arable Farmer of the Year

Category judges Jock Willmott, Farmers Weekly’s Richard Allison and last year’s winner Colin McGregor

“I am looking for a business that punches above its weight for the resources at its disposal, businesses that are consistent and focused on profitable farming, with an eye on the future.”
Jock Willmott is a partner at Strutt & Parker land agents.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Green Energy Farmer of the Year

Category judges Andrew Kneeshaw, Farmers Weekly’s Will Frazer and last year’s winner Neil Gourlay

“I’ll be looking for someone who understands their energy use; knows where it goes and has made rational steps to minimise it. Energy use and generation must occupy their rightful place and dovetail in with the wider aspirations of a farm business, both environmentally and financially.”
Andrew Kneeshaw is managing director of Farm Energy Centre.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Pig Farmer of the Year

Category judges Zoe Davies, Farmers Weekly’s Jane King and last year’s winner Stuart Bosworth

“I am looking for someone who is not simply running a fantastic business, but who understands and inspires their staff and customers. They also need to be thinking creatively and driving forward innovations in productivity, welfare and customer focus.”
Dr Zoe Davies is regions manager for the National Pig Association.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Farm Contractor of the Year

Category judges Philip Wynn, Power Farming’s James Andrews and last year’s winner Chris Awdry

“I will be seeking to find the contractor who continually delights his farming clients through his efficient and cost effective delivery. This top rate will need to be carefully linked to the profitability of his own business and his ability to reinvest in both efficiency and new technology to ensure the operation is sustainable for the long-term.”
Philip Wynn is director of Wynn Business Partnerships Ltd.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Countryside Farmer of the Year

Category judges Geoff Sansome, Farmers Weekly’s Debbie Beaton and last year’s winner Chris Dowse

“I will be looking for how countryside management takes its place not only as an enterprise alongside other enterprises on the farm, but also how it compliments and adds value to the wider farm business. Quite simply, if the environmental subsidies stopped tomorrow would the farm continue with its current environmental practices which protect and enhance biodiversity?”
Geoff Sansome is performance director for Natural England.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Beef Farmer of the Year

Category judges Simon Marsh, Farmers Weekly’s Aly Balsom and last year’s winner Sam Chesney

“I will be looking for a beef producer who is putting science into practice. Someone who is running an efficient system that is both sustainable, but more importantly profitable.”
Simon Marsh is a senior lecturer at Harper Adams University College.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Sheep Farmer of the Year

Category judges Liz Genever, Farmers Weekly’s Sarah Trickett and last year’s winner Simon Stott

“I am particularly interested in sheep producers who are maximising their use of grass and forage. I will also be looking for businesses that are thinking ahead with regards to the changing climate and lamb consumption. And someone who has an understanding of cost of production, liveweight gains and ewe efficiency”.
Dr Liz Genever is a livestock scientist for EBLEX.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Poultry Farmer of the Year

Category judges Jason Gittins, Poultry World’s Philip Clarke and last year’s winner Nigel Joice.

“In judging this year’s competition I will be looking for someone with enthusiasm who can demonstrate success through technical efficiency, innovation and marketing. Someone who can anticipate future challenges and plan accordingly. And finally, someone who sets a positive example and can inspire others.”
Jason Gittins is a senior consultant for ADA Sustainable Livestock Group.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Dairy Farmer of the Year

Category judges David Cotton, Farmers Weekly’s Gemma MacKenzie and last year’s winner Gavin Fowler

“It is not just about the performance but looking at the all-round business; whether the farm is wholly focussed on dairy or has other enterprises, how the farm relates to the local community, whether the farmer has other interests outside of the farm and what the long term prospects are for that business. There is no one way to be a dairy farmer and how the resources of that business are managed is very important.”
David Cotton is RABDF chairman.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Farm Worker of the Year

Category judges Meurig Raymond, Farmers Weekly’s David Cousins and last year’s winner Liliya Kucher

“A good farm worker obviously needs to be dedicated, hard-working and highly motivated. But I will also be looking at how they use modern, sophisticated equipment and the extent to which they are able to grasp new innovations. I will also be looking for a good working relationship with the farmer and rest of the team.”
Meurig Raymond is deputy president of the NFU.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Young Farmer of the Year

Category judges Paul Wilson, Farmers Weekly’s Isabel Davies and last year’s winner James Down

“The winner needs to apply science, technology and business knowhow, information and skills to drive forward a profitable and environmentally sustainable farming business. Drawing upon a strong passion for farming, they must demonstrate attention to detail, business vision and energy to enhance the image of agriculture to consumers and society.”
Dr Paul Wilson is associate professor of agricultural management and economics at the University of Nottingham.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Local Food Farmer of the Year

Category judges Colin Dennis, Farmers Weekly’s Debbie Beaton and last year’s winner Will Simkin

“The winner of this award will be a passionate advocate for local food and will value the integrity of the produce extremely highly. I will be looking for people with sound business sense and a clear vision. They will be adapting successfully and profitably to challenge new conditions with the help of enthusiastic and well-motivated employees who share that vision.”
Colin Dennis is chairman of the English Food & Drink Alliance.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Farm Advisor of the Year

Category judges Andrew Janaway, Farmers Weekly’s Julian Gairdner and last year’s winner James Miles-Hobbs

“Advisers play a crucial role in many successful farm businesses. I’d expect our winner to have a combination of professionalism, practical understanding and a strong empathy with their client and their client’s business to help them to achieve clearly define goals.”
Andrew Janaway is a farmer from Hampshire.

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2012 Farmers Weekly Diversification Farmer of the Year

Category judges Alan Wilson Spedding, Farmers Weekly’s Johann Tasker and last year’s winners John and Rosemary Barnes.

“I expect there to be plenty of bright, imaginative people running profitable enterprises, so I will be looking among them for something fresh and new.”
Alan Wilson Spedding is a freelance rural consultant.

 

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2012 Farmers Weekly Farm Manager of the Year

Category Judges Francis Mordaunt, Farmers Weekly’s Suzie Horne and last year’s winner Charlie Russell

“The successful farm manager should have a strategic plan that has taken into account the location and resources of the business and likely future government support and policy change. They should also have excellent technical and financial skills, staff leadership and development and be aware of environmental issues.”
Francis Mordaunt is a farm business adviser and agriculture industry analyst.

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Read more

Find out more about the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards including how to enter