Put your farm worker in the spotlight

Farm workers are the hidden gems of UK agriculture. They work hard throughout the year and at busy times are called upon to do prodigious hours at the wheel of a tractor, combine or forage harvester. Without them, British farming would quickly grind to a halt.

Yet they are often an almost unseen workforce, getting on with the job without fuss and often without any need for supervision. They toil in all weathers, can turn their hand to almost anything and are wholly essential to the smooth-running of the farm business.

Their closeness to the day-to-day farming tasks also means that they are often in a good position to improve the efficiency of the farm, cut costs and boost profits.

If you’re a farmer and this description fits one or more of your staff, you have a great chance to edge your star farm worker a little bit into the limelight.

How’s that? By entering them into this year’s Farm Worker of the Year category in the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards, which is sponsored by Isuzu.

A team of judges will be visiting the three finalists on their farms and all three will be invited to a lavish ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London in October.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a 4,000-acre combinable crops farm in Lincolnshire or a small dairy enterprise in Lancashire. What we’re looking for are workers who are loyal, enterprising and hard-working, ready to take on challenges and truly essential to the smooth-running of the farm.

Equally, if you’re a farm worker and want to enter the competition, you can self-nominate.

Last year’s winner

The winner of the 2011 Farmers Weekly Farm Worker of the Year Award was Liliya Kucher, a pivotal staff member at Andrew Green’s vegetable business at Rook Row Farm near Malvern.

The farm grows 60ha (150 acres) of runner beans, tenderstem broccoli, mange tout, sugar snap peas and courgettes for the big supermarkets.

How to enter

Just go to awards website at www.farmersweeklyawards.co.uk. There’s a simple form to fill in and entries have to be in by 4 October 2012.

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