As one of this year’s judges, Ian Wilkinson gave a short talk at the presentation of the Gloucestershire Silver Pintail Award at Duchy Home Farm in Tetbury, established by Prince Charles to promote the wider adoption of organic farming and food production methods.

Gloucestershire’s Silver Pintail Award is made by FWAG (The Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group) to showcase the long term commitment to wildlife conservation and sustainable farming. Each year has a theme, and this year’s was ‘Down to Earth: The Importance of Soil Management’ to mark the International Year of The Soils, as declared by the United Nations Council. Examples of good soil management practices include the use of cover crops, green manures and catch crops to build soil organic matter.

The winner of the award is John Newman of Abbey Home Farm near Cirencester with Rob Richmond from Chedworth taking the runner-up position. Chris Padfield from Staunton was highly commended.  The presentation of the award was made by Lord Bathurst.

The event, attended by around 40 people, was introduced by Robert Jackson, current chair of FWAG. Ian Wilkinson talked about the importance of soil to farmers and Tim Bevan from The Soil Association, talked about how and why the winner was selected. After the award itself David Wilson, Farm Manager of Duchy Home Farm, spoke about how farms are run and the importance of sustainability.