For twelve years, the British Farming Awards has shone a light on the best in British Farming. During this annual event Britain's farming industry comes together to celebrate the achievements of its contemporaries.

The 2024 Dairy Farmer of the Year finalists have been chosen because they are excelling in their  field. The judges look for the entrants to be exploring new ideas and opportunities, shaping their businesses to become more robust, sustainable and adaptable in an ever changing sector. Whether they are small scale dairy units or family-run farms, they are all using progressive technologies to improve efficiencies or developing their systems into a niche with challenging conventional thinking.

Proudly introducing the 2024 Dairy Farmer of the Year Finalists

Tom & Karen Halton - Halton Farms Ltd

Tom and Karen Halton, along with their experienced team, farm at Chance Hall Farm, Congleton, Cheshire. The farm is home to 500 ProCROSS dairy cows, producing average annual yields of 11,800 litres, with milk sold via their platform, The Milk Shack.

Tom is a second-generation farmer; his father became a tenant farmer on the Rode Hall Estate in 1968, working alongside the landlord to start the Rode Farms Partnership. Tom joined this partnership in 1989 and grew the business alongside Sir Richard's son, Randle.

In 2012 Tom and Karen formed Halton Farms Ltd growing the herd to full strength and launching The Milk Shack in 2016, selling raw milk from a vending machine.

Since its creation, The Milk Shack has developed its offering to include pasteurised milk, milkshakes, cheese, eggs, cakes, butter and much more. Tom and Karen use this as an opportunity to engage with the public, the couple commented, "this allows us to connect with a wider audience, helping to dispel the negative information about UK agriculture and develop positive relationships with the local community." Furthering their community connections, the duo has a 'Moobile' Milk Shack which attends local events and food festivals. In 2018, the team started farm tours for schools, colleges, universities, Cubs, Scouts and organisations to give people a real view of dairy farming.

Keeping in mind the industries Net Zero targets, Tom, Karen and their team have implemented numerous tactics such as improving soil and nutritional erosion by sewing short-term grass leys after maize harvest making them less reliant on buying in feed. The team are working towards completely removing soya from the total mixed rations by the end of 2024 ensuing they are using protected feeding ingredients.

Alongside reducing waste and ensuring supplies are from sustainable sources, their milking herd is housed indoors, meaning they have more tons of dry matter farmed per hectare, which is immediately followed by slurry, meaning they use less fertiliser.  

Harry Roper - E Roper & Son

In 2014, Harry became a partner and took over the running of his family farm in Thornley-with-Wheatley, nr Preston. Since Harry joined the business, he has had a significant impact on increasing milk yields and improving the farms' carbon footprint.

When Harry joined the business at Lyme House Farm it was lambing 400 sheep and milking 120 cows. Over the past 10 years, Harry has invested in new machinery, ensuring his team can do everything in-house. He has built a new rapid exit parlour which has contributed to rising milk yields and better time management for his team.

Today, Lyme House Farm milks 470 cows twice a day, with milk sold through Arla co-operative on a contract with Tesco. Harry works with an independent nutritionist to create the feed, which includes wholecrop, ground maize, concentrate blend and grass silage ensuring his herd has the best diet it can. With herd health always in his mind, after milking, the cows leave the parlour and walk through a Hoofcount (2024 BFA AgriTech Innovator of the Year Finalist) footbath containing a copper sulphate solution. Since its installation they have seen a significant drop in lameness and digital dermatitis is almost non-existent in the herd.

Harry has a strong focus on improving the environmental impact of the farm to ensure the longevity of the industry in the UK. In previous years, Harry had been struggling to meet targets in the farm's carbon footprint audit due to buying in maize to feed the cows.  In 2020, Harry made the decision to invest in neighboring Knott Farm and acquire the tenancy for 220 acres a short distance away. This enabled them to grow and harvest more of their own crops and move to a more forage-based diet, in turn reducing their carbon footprint. In addition to this, Harry has planted a 50-acre site with trees reducing the farms' C02 emissions further.

Oliver Neagle – Hiltonbury Jerseys

The Jersey breed has been a passion for Oliver for over 20 years. At the age of 31, he sold his drum kit to release the funds he needed to purchase his first 2 cows, fast forward to the present day and Attwoods Drove Farm, Winchester is home to 280 cows primarily bred by Oliver himself. Calving all year round and using sexed semen has helped build his herd, with beef genetics being introduced minimally to supply the farm shop. Hiltonbury Jerseys is a family run enterprise, Oliver's wife and stepdaughter and integral to the operation.

In 2016 Oliver broke the mold by investing in a milk vending machine, one of the first farms to take the risk. Due to milk prices fluctuating, the ability to sell milk straight to the customer through his wife's farm shop was key to the farm's success. Oliver states that 'without these changes being made they would no longer be in the dairy industry'.

In 2019 Oliver moved to his current farm and invested heavily in its infrastructure, installing a new Dairy Master milking parlour and a pasteurisation room. Not only did this seriously reduce milking time, but it saved time, money and increased the farm shop offering through the pasteurisation process.

Alongside raw and traditional milk, the farm shop sells homemade traditional Jersey ice cream, Jersey fudge, Jersey beef, free range eggs and has expanded into county wear and equine goods this year. Diversification is key to the farm's success, with events such as food and craft festivals, pumpkin parties and small open days helping to encourage the public to learn about the farm, which is all shared through their Instagram page.

Environmentally, Oliver has planted new hedge rows around the farm to support the wildlife. The loose yard produces more organic farmyard manure to spread on the farm and reduce the use of fertilisers. In addition, he has planted herbal leys and introduced red clovers to limit the need for brought in proteins.   

Emyr Bowen - R & E Bowen

Staying ahead of legislation and consumer trends is a key focus of the Lan Farm and its Pedigree Holstein herd in Carmarthen. Celebrating 100 years of the Lan Herd in 2024, farming has been in the family for a long time. Emyr and his father Robert run the farm full time alongside floating members of staff and contractors, giving them the time to focus on the animals.

Calving all year round, the herd has a rolling average of 11,000 litres at 4.5bf and 3.2p. For animal health and production reasons, the herd is housed at night in sand bed cubicles and grazed in the daytime over summer. The herd is fed to yield in parlour and outer parlour feeders, on grass silage, straw, minerals and yeast. This move has led to an increase in yield from 1500 to 2000 litres.

At the beginning of 2024 Emyr transitioned his herd onto a Soya free diet which has had positive results on fats, proteins and fertility, commenting, 'we've gone soya free across the entire milk herd and the beef unit is 100% grass fed', which will help the industry achieve Net Zero targets.

Not only has the transition to Soya free put Emyr in a better position to take on retail contracts in future, with environmental issues becoming a more prominent focus for companies, it has reduced costs. Focusing on achieving the correct silage quality has limited feed costs and improved the herd's output.

In line with Welsh Nitrate Vulnerable Zone rules, Emyr has increased slurry storage on the farm. This has been a positive move for Lan Farm, using the slurry to improve the soil health on the farm and save costs on fertiliser. Moving forward, Emyr hopes to continue taking positive steps for the environment, working towards securing grants when the government has confirmed its plans for the agricultural industry.

Taking place on October 17 at The VOX in Birmingham, the event will welcome industry professionals from across the country to celebrate British agriculture and the successes it has had this year.

Get your tickets here to celebrate with the finalists at The British Farming Awards: https://www.britishfarmingawards.co.uk