Farmers Weekly Awards 2025: Mixed Farmer of the Year

Ashley Jones of Smeaton Farm, Cornwall, is the winner of the Farmers Weekly Awards 2025 Mixed Farmer of the Year.

Ashley Jones runs a truly mixed beef, sheep and arable farm in south-east Cornwall, alongside a contracting business and a host of diversifications that are a credit to his passion and motivation.

All of the agronomy is carried out by Ashley, who is Basis and Facts qualified.

He is also a trainer for Basis and Facts courses at the home farm and travels across England as part of the course.

See also: FW Awards: Meet the 2025 Mixed Farmer of the Year finalists

Impressive yields

This year’s harvest results have been impressive with winter wheat averaging 10.4t/ha, winter barley 8.6t/ha, winter oats 8.2t/ha and spring barley 6.5t/ha.

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

No phosphorus or potassium fertilisers are purchased, relying instead on closed-loop nutrient cycling.

Laser focus on input costs and efficiency has seen nitrogen fertiliser use slashed by 75% on grassland and 20% on arable fields, in just three years.

Strategic use of cover crops, rotational grazing, and herbal leys (part of his Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement), enrich biodiversity and feed soil biology.

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.

The 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, out of a herd of 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 relying instead on homegrown forage maize and spring beans in the total mixed ration and grazing nutrient-rich herbal leys during the spring and summer.

The flock of 140 North Country Mules play an important part in the arable rotation, grazing cover crops and cycling nutrients.

Lambs are finished on forage rape, which is an effective break crop for combinable cereal crops.

Community engagement

Ashley is the NFU county chairman and a former AHDB Monitor Farm host. As a tenant of the Duchy Estate, he frequently hosts students from Duchy College.

He also runs a contracting business, offering cultivating, drilling, spraying and combining services, as well as an equine hay business.

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

There is also an award-winning B&B. Pumpkins are donated to schools and nurseries, and flowers are donated to the local church for harvest festivals and weddings.

As a machinery enthusiast, Ashley keeps up with the latest technology and applies variable-rate inputs based on satellite imagery.

The farm is home to 30 beehives, in partnership with Cornwall Honey to support thriving pollinator populations. Recently, 0.8ha of trees have been planted on farm.

What the judges say

“Ashley runs a truly mixed farm with environment at its core. Attention to detail is clear across his arable, livestock and diversification enterprises. He is helping to drive the ag sector forward and is a worthy winner.”