Farmers Weekly Awards 2025: Farmer of the Year

Cornish farmer Ashley Jones has been crowned Farmers Weekly’s Farmer of the Year 2025.

Ashley’s extensive business structure, which encompasses beef, sheep, arable, contracting and host of diversifications, is a credit to his motivation to keep pushing the business forward.

His involvement with the wider community is inspiring.

See also: Farmers Weekly Awards 2024: Farmer of the Year

As the current NFU county chairman for Cornwall, a fully qualified Basis and Facts course trainer and a former AHDB Monitor Farm host, he is not afraid to put himself forward and give back to the industry.

Ashley’s reputation has spread beyond his farm gate. Two nearby landowners have approached him to manage their land, highlighting the respect he has gained for his careful land stewardship.

Integrated approach

Running a truly mixed farm in southeast Cornwall, he carries out all agronomy in-house.

A focus on input costs and efficiency has seen nitrogen fertiliser use slashed by 75% on grassland and 20% on arable fields.

Strategic use of cover crops, rotational grazing and herbal leys, which is part of his Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreement, enriches biodiversity.

The farm boasts soil organic matter levels of 7-9% – a testament to his integrated approach.

His beef and sheep systems are proudly grass-based, with livestock fattened on 100% home-grown feed and forage.

About 140 cattle are finished a year, with 40 Aberdeen Angus suckler cows and 100 bought-in Angus calves sold on contract to a major supermarket.

Ashley is on track to cut soya completely from the diet.

He is instead relying on home-grown forage maize and spring beans, and grazing nutrient-rich herbal leys.

Additional enterprises

The farm also runs a farm park, with an exhilarating slip-and-slide attraction, flower fields, pumpkin patch and a maize maze.

Ashley’s passion is providing memorable experiences for people visiting the farm.

Pumpkins are donated to schools and nurseries, and flowers are donated to the local church for harvest festivals and weddings.

As a tenant of the Duchy Estate, he frequently hosts visits from Duchy College students.

If that wasn’t enough, Ashley runs a contracting and equine hay business and has an award-winning B&B on site.

The farm is home to 30 beehives, in partnership with Cornwall Honey, to support thriving pollinator populations.

Recently, two acres of trees have been planted on farm.