Wye Valley AONB Chairman, Councillor Phil Cutter presented the 2018 Farming Award to Esther and Henry Rudge in the Countryside Ring at the Monmouth Show.

Every year the organisation recognises the farmers who live and work in the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty through the Wye Valley AONB Farming Awards. They present the awards at the Monmouth Show to farmers and land managers who make an outstanding contribution to conserving and enhancing the landscape of the Wye Valley AONB. The awards are a way of showcasing the excellent work being undertaken to help keep the Wye Valley AONB a vibrant and beautiful place.

Ballingham Court Farm, run by the Rudge family balances two key elements – empathy with their surroundings and profitability to enable the farm to continue through the generations. Esther is the fourth generation of her family at the farm, and their son, Monty, is now part of the partnership following his return from Harper Adams University.

The 550 acre farm includes beef cattle, Aberfield cross Romney ewes, 20 acres of apple orchard, eight acres of organic conference pear orchard, 120 acres arable, 70 pedigree Herefords and 20 acres of woodland. Twenty years of environmental schemes has seen the Rudges restore hedgerows, create buffer strips and bird cover and plant woodland, as well as opening up 4km of permissive bridleway. The farm has invested heavily in renewable energy, including biomass boilers and an anaerobic digester.

The Rudges are also heavily involved in the local community, on the Parish Council, Village Hall Committee, and through the Street Pastors scheme in Hereford. Visitors are welcome to the farm, and the family allow groups to camp by the river, such as DofE, Scouts and church groups when on canoeing trips.

The judges were particularly taken by the wide range of diversification, the sustainability of the enterprise with the next generation coming through and the wide range of management with conservation in mind.

The Farming Awards Judging Panel includes farming and wildlife advisor Mike Williams, 2015 winner Mike Johnson of Broome Farm, Peterstow, and NFU Cymru representative David Price alongside Andrew Blake, Wye Valley AONB Manager. The other 2018 finalists were Gwent Wildlife Trust, Gadr Farm, Llangovan and Humble by Nature at Meend Farm, Penallt.