A total of 12 women have been honoured as winners in an awards scheme designed to recognise and reward women in agriculture.
The second National Women in Agriculture Awards was a spectacular black-tie event held in the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in central London, this prestigious venue was chosen to reflect the valuable work women in agriculture do. The awards were judged by a panel of female food and farming leaders and the evening was hosted by comedian Rachel Parris.
Katie Davies was named Farming Woman of the Year, a fourth-generation Welsh hill farmer and lecturer in agriculture, whose passion for farming and education shone through. A brilliant communicator, the judges praised Davies’ advocacy for farming, such as her recent speeches at the Senedd and during the Save our Family Farms campaign.
Her award was one of 12 covering a broad range of areas where women are making their mark on the agriculture industry.
The 11 other winners on the evening were:
Mary Jane Lawrie was named Agricultural Advisor of the Year. Jane is a senior agricultural consultant with SAC and is also a farmer. She set up a series of farming women’s networking groups, starting in 2017, securing funding from the Scottish Government which have now blossomed into 12 groups across the country.
Milly Fyfe was named Agricultural Ambassador of the Year. Milly has dedicated her career to advocating for food and farming in numerous and varied ways including through Young Farmers, being a director of the Oxford Farming Conference and the Shorthorn Society.
Envirosystems was named Business of the Year. The judges were hugely impressed by this family business founded in 2001 by Liz Russell, a dairy farmer’s daughter turned entrepreneur, who has a deep-rooted passion for animal nutrition, cow health and sustainable soils.
The Innovator of the Year was Jilly Duncan Grant, the co-founder and CEO of Herd Advance, an agri-tech company dedicated to helping cattle farmers adopt innovative digital technologies.
Teresa Wickham was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award. Teresa has had an astonishing career in food and farming, that has earned her the nickname the Kent Crusader.
Her achievements include declaring war in the 70s on French apples and co-founding the women’s farming union. By 1990, she was the first woman divisional director of UK retailer Safeway and then becoming an adviser to Sainsbury’s on its £1 billion corporate responsibility programme. Since then, she has held numerous roles managing and developing areas of business, primarily in food, agriculture and the retail industry, including governor of the Royal Agricultural College, chairman of the Oxford Farming Conference and non-executive director of New Covent Garden Market Authority.
The Influencer of the Year was named as Rebecca Wilson, a fifth-generation farmer who uses her social media following of 50,000 and her podcast for real leverage, sparking conversations on mainstream media programmes and at industry events.
Poppy Borough was named Machinery Engineer of the Year. Poppy has been promoted several times since joining JCB as an apprentice. She is now a sales support specialist for JCB Agriculture, providing technical and commercial support and the judges praised her enthusiasm for machinery, which shines through.
The Rising Star of the Year was named as Emily Mee. Emily single handedly built her family farm’s social media presence and developed an online business selling excess fruit direct to consumers during the pandemic. In the past few years, she has built up a line of nine successful blueberry products.
Jodie Bolland was named Supply Chain Woman of the Year, Myton Food Group’s UK Agricultural Sourcing Director. In the past year, she has been instrumental in the developing the company’s protein and ingredients business.
The Sustainability Champion was named as Megan Hudson. Megan works for Fenland SOIL, a members organisation set up in 2021, and is part of a dedicated team with farmers at its core, aiming to tackle climate and environmental issues relating to agriculture and climate change in the East Anglian Fens.
The Training and Education Woman of the Year was named as Anna Jones, who runs Just Farmers, an education organisation about empowering farmers to tell their stories.
The awards scheme was organised by Mark Allen Group and was sponsored by Nestlé UK and Ireland, HSBC, the Co-op, Dunbia, Noble Foods, the NFU, De Lacy Executive Recruitment, McCain and Rumenco.
A spokesperson for principal sponsor Nestlé UK and Ireland, said: “We have been working directly with UK farmers for many years and have always recognised the incredible work that is done every day by our female farmers. Often, this effort goes unrecognised outside of the farms, which is why we are very proud to sponsor these awards and help shine a light on the amazing work done by female farmers in the UK.”
Martin Hanson, head of agricultural banking at HSBC UK, said: “Our network of agriculture managers understand that many of the most successful agricultural businesses we work with have diverse leadership teams, and as such we’re delighted to be reinforcing the importance of this in the farming sector by supporting the Women in Agriculture Awards and this Sustainability category.”
