21 January 2008

21 January 2008
Farmers Look to the Future with New Award

This week sees the launch of the Future Farmer Award, which is backed by the Elizabeth Murray Trust and Scottish Natural Heritage. This new award will promote practical ideas for improving the environmental sustainability of farming in Scotland. Each year the Award will give a trailblazing Scottish farmer a package of support to help them communicate their ideas to other farmers and land managers.


The organisers are looking for someone who is already improving the environmental sustainability of how they farm and would like the opportunity to inspire other land managers. The award, which includes £4,000, is intended to help the farmer make time over the coming year to promote their ideas.

The Future Farmer Award opens for applications this week and the closing date is the 14th April 2008 (deadline later extended to 30th April 2008). Applications will be assessed by a panel of experts and shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by representatives of the Elizabeth Murray Trust and Scottish Natural Heritage. The Award will be presented on World Environment Day, the 5th June. Full details of the Award, including an application form, are at www.futurefarmer.org.uk

The Future Farmer Award is co-ordinated by Anna Ashmole [1] on behalf of the Elizabeth Murray Trust [2]. Anna Ashmole said: “The Elizabeth Murray Trust was set up by an extraordinary family who loved the landscape of Scotland and who were active in all kinds of social efforts to improve what they saw as an ageing, depopulating, tragic and beautiful country. They were involved in early organic farming experiments in the 1940s and later in the Camphill movement. They were also innovators: Elizabeth's husband installed one of the first water-powered electricity plants in their home in Applecross. When the Trust asked me to develop long-term project I saw it as a chance to help farmers step outside the day-to-day concerns of running a farming business and inspire each other with new ideas to take Scottish farming into the future.”

The Future Farmer Award will highlight practical ways in which farmers can contribute to government objectives on environmental sustainability [3]. It will help farmers consider new ideas when putting together applications for funding under Rural Development Contracts [4].

The Future Farmer Award will also feed in to the new National Discussion on food [5] by raising awareness of down-to-earth ways in which farmers can contribute to a 'greener Scotland' by reducing the environmental impact of food production.

Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment said:
“This award presents farmers with an excellent opportunity to herald the many examples of good and innovative work being undertaken the length and breadth of Scotland.

“As Cabinet Secretary I have been hugely impressed with the forward thinking approach adopted by the industry and the efforts made in finding ways of nurturing what is arguable Scotland’s greatest asset – its natural environment.”


-- Ends --