Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - 
Banff & Buchan MSP Stewart Stevenson has called upon residents of Banff & Buchan to put forward nominations for the prestigious Future Farmer Award. The Future Farming Award is funded by the Elizabeth Murray Trust and the winner will receive £4000. The award is open to anyone in agriculture who manages productive land in Scotland whether as an owner, tenant, crofter or employee. It is looking for farmers who want to promote their practical ideas which will improve environmental sustainability in Scottish agriculture. The areas the trust wants to promote practical ideas in include:
- Managing soils to reduce flooding risk
- Integrating native woodland
- management with grazing livestock
- Choosing crops varieties which are resilient to wet summers
- Developing new ideas for productive and sustainable
management of hill ground - Running farm machinery on farm-produced bio-fuel
- Creating the right conditions for commercially useful 'wild' plants to grow
- Cutting CO2 emissions on-farm and in supply chains
Applications opened on the 1st January 2009 and entrants have till 13th April 2009 to enter.
Commenting, Mr Stevenson said:
“The Future Farmer Awards are a great way in which people pioneering new, practical ideas in farming can receive some recognition and support to encourage others to take up their practices.
“I would like to encourage residents of Banff & Buchan to nominate anybody that has practical ideas that could improve the environmental sustainability of farms across the country.
“The backing to promote sustainable practice offered by the award makes it a great opportunity for the winning farmer to make a real difference in improving agriculture across Scotland.”
