Chris Greenaway shortlisted for Arable Farmer of the Year

Farm manager Chris Greenaway of Garnstone Farms feels “very humbled” to have been nominated for Arable Farmer of the Year at this year’s annual British Farming Awards.

Garnstone Farms has recently become a monitor farm after joining the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) scheme on June 14. As a result, Garnstone takes part in various experiments involving trialling crop techniques, machinery and fertiliser amounts.

Mr Greenaway compares the monitor farm initiative to a “discussion group” with many farmers participating in to gain insightful new knowledge.

At the time of Garnstone Farm’s recruitment, AHDB’s head of engagement, Ana Reynolds, said: "It takes a special mix of qualities to be a monitor farmer, including a willingness to scrutinise every aspect of your business and talk about it, and an appetite for trying innovative approaches.”

Mr Greenaway told AHDB how this “way of interrogating our approach and finding things we can improve can only be a good thing.

"I took on a business that was financially sound but needed to make changes to make the most of where the future of farming is going. We now need to monitor and scrutinise the decisions we have made to ensure we are going in the right direction,” he said.

Mr Greenaway was born on a dairy farm in Cornwall but says he grew up on a duchy farm. When Mr Greenaway finished school, he travelled to New Zealand before studying agriculture at Harper Adams University in Shropshire. He feels his proudest achievement lies in reaching the level he has in terms of farming.

The Hereford farm manager said one of the reasons why his current farm of Garnstone is such a special place is the “stunning, picturesque” setting. All of the land is ring-fenced, and everything produced on the farm lends itself to the production of something else, Mr Greenaway said.

Mr Greenaway's jobs on the farm are very varied (Image: ROB DAVIES)

The farm produces crops of grass seed, wheat, maize, cereals, oilseed rape, oats, beans and even tenderstem broccoli. Garnstone’s thriving cattle enterprise sees the calves reared from birth to finishing.

“No two days are the same,” Mr Greenaway said. Although modern agriculture does “involve lots of office work”, “operating and maintaining machinery, working on grain storage, ergonomics, building work and anything in between” play a heavy role also.

After all of the hard work he has put in, being a British Farming Award finalist “feels good,” said Mr Greenaway. “I probably didn’t really appreciate it until the farming awards asked me to post it online, and I was very humbled by the response.”

The British Farming Awards has been shining a light on the best in British Farming for 12 years. The event brings Britain’s farming industry together to celebrate the achievements of its contemporaries. Pioneering farmers and industry professionals across all sectors are highlighted through fifteen categories.

This year saw a record number of award entries, painstakingly shortlisted into the categories of Agri-tech Innovator, Agricultural Student, Arable Farmer, Beef Farmer, Content Creator, Contractor, Dairy Farmer, Small to Medium Diversification, Large Diversification, Family Farming Business, Farm Worker, Grassland Farmer, Sheep Farmer and Sustainable Farmer of the year, as well as The New Entrant Award: Against the Odds.

The ‘Outstanding Contribution to British Agriculture’ and ‘Farming Hero: Flying the Flag for British Agriculture’ award nominees will be announced on the night.

Taking place on October 17 at VOX in Birmingham, the event will be welcoming industry professionals from across the country to celebrate British agriculture and the successes it has had this year.

To celebrate with the finalists at The British Farming Award ceremony, visit https://www.britishfarmingawards.co.uk/britishfarmingawards/en/page/table-packages to book your tickets.