Blogs

By Chris Bailey, Advisory Manager, Scotland This years RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award competition was tight with several high quality applications vying for the top spot. The overall Scottish winners were David and Morag Miller of Geise Farm in Caithness, with John Leith awarded a highly commended...

By Mark Vercoe, Volunteer & Farmer Alliance Project Officer, Wales A visit to Penlan Farm in Carmarthenshire is a real treat – this family run business takes a holistic approach to running a strong commercial enterprise that also actively supports the environment, their staff, and the community...

Rob Allan believes in balance. He passionately believes that farming needs to deliver food for us and for wildlife, and his approach has weighted things in his (and wildlife’s) favour. Rob is the Midlands Winner RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award 2012. Upton Estate is a 776ha mixed farm...

Nestled in the Yorkshire Wolds is Iain Hurst’s arable farm - 365 hectares of wildlife haven. Iain is Northern England’s winner of the RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award 2012. His farm has an overwhelming range and scale of species as a result of Iain’s careful dedication and...

Some of you may be familiar with the title – it is a phrase used by our Eastern England region . And it’s a perfect description for this year’s Eastern England winner of the RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award . Jason Gathorne-Hardy has taken an ingenious approach to flower...

Much as I'm partial to a nice drop of wine, this time I'm talking about a butterfly. The Duke of Burgundy is a pretty little fritillary that lives on grassland or woodland clearings, mostly in central-southern England. It's range has substantially declined in recent decades, but in...

This week I have been focussing on the launch of the Green Food Project, and how we meet the challenges of producing more food whilst also improving our environment. There are no easy answers, but it is possible to achieve both. In the 12 years that we have owned Hope Farm , we have increased profitability...

June saw the judging stage of our Nature of Farming Award (NoFA). Despite the rain and less than summery weather, we visited six farmers who had been short listed down from our 21 entrants. This provided a great opportunity to look at the environmental work they are doing, and to talk to them about how...

Think of an advert for milk. Any one that springs to mind. Thought of one? Great. Does it have cows in it? I have fond memories of milk adverts that featured not cows, but cheeky red and white straws. They made me giggle as they sneakily pinched milk. Wikipedia helped remind me they were Humphreys...