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This week is your last chance to enter the Nature of Farming Award for 2013 – the UK’s largest farm wildlife competition. Entry closes on 18 th April – yes, that’s next Thursday. But why should you spend some of your valuable time taking part in an Award? For one thing,...

I want to know what you think. I need to know what you think. "What about?", you may ask. Its one of my favourite subjects - the RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award . This year I want it to be BIGGER and BETTER than ever. So when voting opens in the hopefully sunny summer days...

Think of a wild place in the UK. It doesn’t matter where, just a place you think of as ‘wilderness.' It might be rolling moorlands and mountains, deep forest, fields stretching as far as the eye can see, upland bogs, or a network of waterways glinting in the sun. Many of you may...

I’m sure you remember Henry Edmunds (above, with Adam Henson), overall UK winner of the 2012 RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award . Now the hunt is on for this year's Henry (or Henrietta!). The Nature of Farming Award does three big things: Gives all farmers doing their bit for wildlife...

What do you get if you mix an enthusiastic and dedicated bunch of farmers, volunteers and RSPB staff and stick them in front of an international audience from across the agriculture sector for a day? Lots of interesting discussions, real insight to the value of our farmland conservation work and plenty...

I have childhood memories of long hot journeys to summer holidays in Cornwall. Our small stuffy car was packed to the gunwales with my gran, 2 parents, us three kids and one dog. My Dad would groan and complain bitterly when we got stuck behind a caravan on the single carriageway roads. Our car was not...

By Tracé Williams, Great Bustard LIFE Manager As I talk to this years Nature of Farming Award winner, Henry Edmunds, it becomes clear he is a true guardian of wildlife. Henry’s farm, the Cholderton Estate in Wiltshire, has been managed by his family since 1880, with Henry taking...

Wiltshire farmer Henry Edmunds has scooped the top prize in the 2012 RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award . Henry runs a mixed organic farm on the Cholderton Estate with a motto of 'sustainable agriculture in practice'. He is truly an ambassador for a modern farming business, and we heartily...

By Nick Tomalin, Wessex Farmland Projects Manager Image courtesy of RSPB Images. Spreading hedge parsley. As an enthusiastic nine year old I was always looking up. Partly this was down to a cheery disposition, partly because I was shorter than everyone else at that age, and partly it was due...

I spent the past weekend at Birdfair , where every year thousands of wildlife enthusiasts from around the world come to hear fascinating talks, book a wonderful wildlife holiday, find great bargains on gear, art and much more. I was on the RSPB stand, in a positively sweltering marquee, encouraging...

As a certain major sports event opened on Friday, with a spectacular ceremony featuring a pastoral idyll that helped shape our green and pleasant land, my thoughts turned to some of the amazing farm wildlife that share our landscape. A great case could be made for many contenders, but here is my winners...

It was a difficult task, but the judges have chosen the four fabulous finalists for the 2012 RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award . Frankly, I don't know how the judges choose each year, the standard is wonderfully high, and they are all brilliant in different ways. But we shut the judges in a...

I’m sure that’s a joke Henry Edmunds has heard before (and is probably a tad tired of). But we really should shout ‘hooray’ for this special farmer from Wiltshire. Henry is the South West England Winner of the RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award 2012. Henry’s...

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...

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...

By Hayley Sherwin, Volunteer and Farmer Alliance Project Officer, Northern Ireland With the action of farmers across Northern Ireland, we are working towards safeguarding farmland wildlife for future generations. After visiting farms as part of the judging process for the RSPB Telegraph Nature of...

I just had to share this - this year more farmers than ever have entered the RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award . This is fabulous news. It was already the biggest farm wildlife award in the UK. But the bigger it gets, the better it will be in spreading the word about the essential role farmers play...

Mention the word 'farmer' in a sentence and most people would understand that you that you were talking about someone who produces food of some description. That's a farmer's job, right? Hmmm. What if that same person was described as a 'multifunctional rural resource manager'...

I've just come back from the RSPB's annual Members Weekend - three days of inspiring talks and a chance to chat to some of our wonderful supporters. On Saturday morning Marco Lambertini, Chief Executive of BirdLife International , gave a fabulous talk called 'Global partnership, local action'...

I lose track of the number of acronyms I come across every day, but there are some that are more memorable than others in this business. LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) is one of them. As an organisation, LEAF work to promote the integration of environmental protection into farming and understandably...