Students from Harper Adams have won the 2008 Farm-planner of the Year Award following a case study project at Lord Hertford's (pictured) farm on the Ragley Estate, Warwickshire.

In a closely fought final contest, the Harper Adams team beat students from Bishop Burton and Writtle Colleges.

This is the second consecutive win for Harper Adams in the scheme, run by the Institute of Agricultural Management, HSBA, Farmplan and Farmers Weekly.

The judges were impressed by the way in which the team of four set about getting a good overview of the whole enterprise and looked at the branding opportunities for Ragley.

One new diversification idea was to develop a Ragley Vineyard. Their main focus was to centralise the handling of the farm's grain, exploit opportunities for the future with the sheep and suckler herd and explore renewable energy.

The Harper Adams winners were: Adam Brown, Matthew Kingdon, Stuart Laws and Duncan Burnett.