Farmers Weekly Farmer of the Year in wellies-for-chef’s-hat job swap
Adrian Ivory, 2008 Farmers Weekly Farmer of the Year and 2008 Young Farmer of the Year, is swapping his wellies for a chef’s hat when he experiences running John Torode’s top London restaurant, Smiths of Smithfield in March next year.
Mr Torode, the new RASE president and co-presenter of MasterChef, jumped at the opportunity to experience the other end of the food chain when Farmers Weekly approached him.
“I have championed British food and its farmers for many years and this is a great opportunity for me to understand the challenges facing today’s producers and identify ways that we can work better together,” he said
The chef will be visiting Adrian’s beef and arable unit in Perth during the first week of April – a great time to see both enterprises on the 1000ha (2500-acre) farm in full flow. “We’ll be calving in April so John will get to see all ends of the livestock production cycle,” said Mr Ivory, who impressed this year’s judging panel with his highly professional business approach to farming.
“Spending time in Smiths of Smithfield will be a tremendous opportunity for me to experience a totally different side of the food chain. I am really looking forward to learning how the restaurant sector operates.
“Having John on the farm to see first-hand the challenges nand rewards of farming today will be great.
“Understanding each other’s businesses can only be positive – and it gives me a great opportunity to promote the quality meat that the British Beef industry has to offer.”
- For more on Adrian Ivory and the Farmers Weekly Awards, visit our Awards special report page.
- The Farmers Weekly Young Farmer of the Year award is sponsored by Massey Ferguson.