Three Farmers Weekly journalists have scooped the top honours in this year’s Yara Guild of Agricultural Journalists awards in London, the first time a single journal has won all three categories in the 47-year history of the competition.

Europe editor Philip Clarke won the arable award for his story “EU sugar deal means cuts and unfair trade”.

Livestock editor Jonathan Long won the livestock and grassland category for his article “Vanishing Vets”.

And Farmers Weekly food miles campaign director Julian Gairdner was successful in the environment and rural issues category with “Promote your food, 93% want you to”.

Commenting on the results, Farmers Weekly editor Jane King said: “I congratulate them all. This is a brilliant achievement and testament to their hard work and dedication. It also reinforces the Farmers Weekly ethos of employing the very best people to communicate important information to the industry.”

In the arable category, the judges believed Mr Clarke’s article was a “well-researched, forward-thinking and valuable piece of writing, giving sugar beet growers a sound insight into the complexities of changes to the EU Sugar Regime and helping them to decide on their future cropping strategies.”

Of Mr Long’s entry, the judges said: “The impact and influence of this article went beyond readers in its original publication, making the headlines in Vet Record and followed up in, among others, its main competitor title. The winning article was based around a survey conducted by the magazine. It was unique and signalled the size of a problem that has hitherto been ignored. This article helped to quantify and pinpoint the reasons behind the exodus of farm vets from the industry.”

And of all the pieces considered in the environment category, the jugdes confirmed Mr Gairdner’s work had “created the greatest impact. It was topical and of interest not just to the farming community, but to all consumers – thereby strengthening that crucial link between food producers and their customers.” They felt it was exactly the kind of work that agricultural journalists should be tackling.

A presentation was also made at the Guild’s harvest lunch to senior arable reporter Andrew Blake who won the prestigious International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Star Award.