Local farmer, Alistair Hunter Blair, one of the stars of Channel 4’s First Time Farmers, has picked up another accolade for his business at Weir End Farm, Ross-on-Wye.

He was one of a trio of enterprising and successful farmers presented with the Young Farmer of the Year award at the 2015 Farm Business Food & Farming Industry Awards. These are the premier business awards for the UK and took place at the House of Commons on December 11th.

Alistair told the Ross Gazette: “It was a fantastic occasion, there were about 250 people there for all the different categories and I really did not expect to win anything.”

He said it was a very strange experience to be dining in the MP’s Dining Room, but wonderful too. He said:?“There is not a lot of positivity in farming at the moment so it is nice to think I must be doing something right.”

Alistair said that he was nominated by local staff at the NFU in June, and then in October he was told he had been shortlisted. He was delighted to have been invited to the event but said:?“I really didn’t know I was going to win.”

The category for Young Farmer was tightly contested. The judges said the three short-listed finalists are three very different young farmers. The judges felt they showed the drive, business acumen and determination that will be needed for the next generation of UK farmers to lead the way with vision and innovation at heart.

It was therefore decided to award all three with the title. Campbell Scott, Director of Sales, Engineering and Brand Development for Massey Furgeson, who sponsored the category, alongside Will­iam Judge, National Sales Manager, presented the awards.

Alistair took succession of tenancy from his father at Weir End Farm in 2012.

He is heavily involved in technology and a huge advocate of precision farming and the cost savings the business has made. Alistair has helped introduce RTK guidance, automatic shut off/on sprayer and variable rate nutrient mapping on the farm. He cites ‘flexibility’ as one of the most vital skills you need to be successful. He says he is lucky that his father shares his passion for technology and ideas.

For the last couple of years, he was also involved in the Channel 4 series First Time Farmers which an average of 1.5 million people tuned in to watch.

The other winners in this category were James Griffin, a partner at Elm Farm, Worcestershire and Jack Stilwell, a director at Green Lanes Farming Ltd, Hampshire.

Another winner is Cotteswold Dairy, Tewkesbury, which has supplied British farmed and produced milk and dairy since 1938. Many local farms supply the dairy, which won the Family Business of the Year.

Seventy-seven years after Harry Workman borrowed money off his mother to buy a milk round, his descendants are now running a hugely successful dairy that employs over 300 people, and Harry is still around to witness it.

George Workman is now at the helm, and two of George’s sisters are also involved in the company.

At the dairy an average of 200,000 litres of milk including organic, Welsh and Channel Island is produced on a daily basis as well as 55,000 litres of cream every week.