Farmers can now enter the 2025 Soil Farmer of the Year competition which celebrates leadership in soil management as a tool to support farm business resilience.
The competition, which is now in its 10th year and free to enter, is run by Farm Carbon Toolkit and Innovation for Agriculture.
Farm Carbon Toolkit’s Becky Wilson says the competition recognises the vital contribution of soil in food production and maintaining functional ecosystems. “There’s no getting away from the fact that 95% of global food production relies on soil, while 60% of all species on the planet can be found in soil, making it, quite literally, the foundation to life.
“It’s because of the crucial role which soil plays that we set up the competition in the first place, and it’s also why the judging criteria are based entirely on the extent to which the farm is prioritising soil health, the practices that are being implemented, and how this is building resilience for each individual farm business.”
Becky adds that any farm can apply, regardless of hectarage, enterprises or system, and in addition to celebrating the achievements of farmers that have enhanced soil health, sharing knowledge is central to the ethos of the competition.
Knowledge transfer
Innovation for Agriculture’s Deborah Crossan comments that the competition celebrates the successes of farmers who’re putting soil front and centre of their management strategy. “It also creates opportunities to easily share their experience and learnings with the wider farming community.
“The winners will be announced at Groundswell 2025, where they’ll be able to share some insights into their farm systems and practices implemented at the completion’s awards ceremony. They’ll also be supported to host a farm walk later in 2025.
“At a time when farm businesses are under increased pressure due to policy changes and changing climatic conditions, celebrating successes and coming together as a community to focus on what can be influenced and changed becomes all the more important,” she adds.
Application process
For 2025 the application process has been updated – farmers can choose to submit a video or audio file answering the questions in the entry form, instead of a written submission. The application form is available at https://bit.ly/Soil-Farmer.
The competition is sponsored by Cotswold Seeds and Hutchinsons, with the first, second and third placed farmers receiving a Cotswold Seeds voucher for seeds and free entry to Groundswell.
