Soil Farmer of the Year 2026
Congratulations to Chris Molyneux who was named Soil Farmer of the Year 2026 at Groundswell yesterday.
Growing field vegetables in Lancashire, Chris Molyneux, a customer of Cotswold Seeds, has used legume rich cover crops, strip tillage and controlled traffic farming to improve soil structure across the farm. He is also renting some land, which is coming out of intensive arable production, and so opting to grow a cover crop to prepare the soil before planting cash crops.
In the last ten years, Chris has increasingly noticed growing worm populations, increased friability of the soil the increased ability to achieve better crops in early spring, due to improved drainage.
Since 2015 the national Soil farmer of the Year competition, sponsored by Cotswold Seeds, has helped to find, promote and champion UK farmers who are passionate about safeguarding their soils and building resilient businesses.
As part of the competition, the top three farmers host farm walks that bring farmers together to share good practices and innovations that improve soil health.
The competition has become widely recognised by organisations working in soil health, with many promoting it to their networks to increase participation.
Chris featured in one of our First Hand Case Studies four years ago:
Chris Molyneux First Hand Case Study
Author: Fiona Mountain
Date Posted: 2nd July 2026
