Chris Molyneux, a field vegetable grower from Lancashire, has been crowned 2026 Soil Farmer of the Year. The awards were presented at Groundswell by competition organisers Innovation for Agriculture and Farm Carbon Toolkit, alongside sponsors Cotswold Seeds and Hutchinsons. Through legume-rich cover crops, strip tillage and controlled traffic farming, Chris has improved soil structure, drainage and biological activity, creating more resilient soils supporting productive vegetable crops. “There are so many people here doing amazing things I feel humbled,” he said. “I don’t quite feel like the winner yet as there is still more that I’d like to do, it’s a…