Somerset FWAG celebrate their farming and wildlife awards

And review the group's achievements

An evening of celebration, to congratulate the winner of the annual Somerset FWAG Farming & Wildlife Awards together with a review of FWAG's work in Somerset was held recently at the Old Barn Owl, Westport.

John Hebditch, NFU County Chairman presented the Otter Trophy and a cheque for £200 to Henry and Richard Lang of The Lang Partnership, Home Farm, Curry Rivel, winners of this year's prestigious award to recognise their efforts in successfully integrating conservation and environmental understanding with a commercial farming business.

The Langs 1000 acre farm consists of a mix of arable, permanent pasture, set aside, woodland, orchard, and livestock of 60 sheep.  They scored very highly on their commercial farming; the judges noted that their use of agronomist and benchmarking their crops showed their commitment to a high standard of production.

The existing features are managed very well, particularly the hedges which have been sensitively managed for Brown Hairstreak butterflies, to be found on a number of hedges across the farm.  The species rich grassland which the Langs have undertaken through the Higher Level Stewardship scheme has been incredibly successful and the location of the arable margins has been carefully planned, ensuring that there is suitable habitat for wildlife including Grey Partridge which have been recorded on the farm.  The areas of woodland that have been planted have established very well and this was another point noted by the judges.  Ben Thorne of Somerset FWAG, who presented the presentation evening, advised the Langs on their Higher Level Stewardship. He says ' The Langs are proud of the work they have achieved and have clearly showed a passion for both the wildlife and agricultural aspects of their business making them worthy winners of the award' -  which is kindly sponsored by the NFU, Natural England and the Duchy of Cornwall.

The standard of all the entrants this year was very high and Tony Weir of Bushby & Weir, Higher Chapel Leigh Farm, Lydeard St Lawrence was the Runner Up with Robert Fry of Long Sutton Farm and Nick Bragg of Frogmary Green Farm, South Petherton judged Highly Commended.

The evening finished with a presentation by FWAG Adviser Rebecca Mills in which she reported on a wide variety of projects that FWAG have been involved with. In the last 12 months, FWAG Advisers in Somerset & Dorset have given management advice on over 70,000 ha and have applied for £5 million in grant aid to come to farmers through Natural England's agri-environmental schemes over the next 10 years.  FWAG have been continuing  with their Farm Plastic Recycling scheme, this year collecting 375 tonnes of plastic waste from 700 farmers.  Soil Management issues also continue to play a major part in the teams' activities with specialists Jo Oborn and David Cliffe helping to deliver advice under Catchment Sensitive Farming.  As well as larger pieces of project work, FWAG staff continue to help with general public and school visits, including several events on Open Farm Sunday.

FWAG is currently recruiting new officer for the Dorset Arable Project, who will be working with farmers in the chalk and arable areas of Dorset to encourage farmland bird populations.  FWAG's National Energy Champion, Adam Lockyear, is based in Somerset and is opening up new areas of work in Carbon Auditing and Renewable Energies which are generating a great deal of interest.

The evening was enjoyed by FWAG members, Sponsors, Judges - Hugh Warmington, Ruth Kimber and James Phillips and other business organisations.