The Pinnacle Awards for Excellence, run jointly by leading environmental consultancy ADAS and The Farmers Club, celebrated some of the UK's leading agricultural students this month.
The awards, open to students enrolled on full-time agricultural and rural business management courses at colleges throughout the UK, encourage young agricultural talent to develop feasible business strategies and challenge students to devise innovative solutions to real business problems.
A prize fund of more than £6,000 is available to students and their education institutions, donated each year by The Cave Foundation.
Candidates for the competition are put forward by universities and colleges. The final award went to George Hood, a final year student at Reading University, who developed a business strategy to improve the business prospects of a large mixed farm and impressed judges with his idea of expanding the current organic farming enterprise. The plans involved extracting sand underlying what is currently very poor productive land and provided practical suggestions on how the farm’s shop could be expanded to increase revenue.
Brian Angell, agricultural and rural advice product leader at ADAS, said: “It’s fantastic to be a part of this - we place a great deal of importance on investing in the UK’s agricultural future, and the finalists who literally came from Lands’ End to John O’Groats should all be extremely proud of themselves. More than anything else, this was about giving something back to the industry, and investing in young agricultural talent.
“It’s crucial that agricultural management tempers creativity with practicality and the ability to communicate ideas with others, including potential investors, industry colleagues, and other industry figures. The awards, held in London, are designed to test students fully on each of these criteria.”
The judging panel was chaired by Prof David Leaver, Tony Turner, John Reynolds, Don Gomery, and Roy Walker, a Trustee of the Cave Foundation. Hood won £1,250 for his proposals, along with £1,250 for Reading University.
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