BQP Farmers Awards South

BQP farmers from across the South of England gathered on 2nd November for the annual BQP Farmers Awards South at the Norfolk Showground.

These annual awards celebrate the best in the industry from across the South of England and include trade stands and guest speakers. This year’s winners include:

Breeding Stock person 2021: Ira Ford- Sandy Sutton
Most Improved Breeding Farm: GSK Cavenham
Highest performing Breeding Farm- 4 week weaned: P&M Pigs
Highest performing Breeding Farm- 5 week weaned: R&C Mellor Ltd
Highest performing Breeding Farm- single parity: NFL Stody
Growing Farms Stock person of the Year: Lizzy Murrell
Best Two Stage Farm Performance: Mark Ramm
Best growing Farms Performance (below 1500 places): Paul Howland
Best growing Farms Performance (above 1500 places): John Dunning
Most Improved Growing Farm: J E Stent- Leader Farm
Next Generation Award: Ben Andrews- Nar Valley Ltd
Trainee of the Year: Georgie Hutchinson- Elite Pigs Ltd
Special Achievement Award: O P Bunn Ltd
Innovation Award: Wiseman Contracting Ltd
Sustainability & Environmental Stewardship Award: GSK Pigs Ltd
The Partnership Award: Simon Lewin
The Farmer of the Year (voted for on the night): Simon Lewin

With a particular special mention to Simon Lewin who was voted for on the night by all attendees. A very deserving winner, Simon is considerate, helpful and truly embraces the BQP partnership.

Howard Revell, Pig Production Director, helped judge the winners and explained: “To be once again all gathered in one venue is amazing. Our farmers have been looking forward to these awards for some time and the wait was worth it. All the winners were pleased and grateful for being recognised. I also want to use this opportunity to thank all our farmers for what they have done over the past year and look forward to meeting them again next year.”

Guests also had a chance to hear Phillip Wilson from Farming Community Network, Matt Dight Pilgrims UK Head of Sustainability, and finally Jake Pickering, Waitrose Senior Agriculture Manager.

Mark Jagger, Assistant Grower Farms Manager, added: “I was thrilled to see so many old faces, and new ones, once again. I want to congratulate all the winners for their tireless efforts. But I also want to thank all our farmers for coming and listening to our speakers as we set our vision for the future and thoughts from our key business partners.”

The evening ended with a touching tribute to Andrew Saunders, who will be leaving his role as Agriculture Director after 42 years. Andrew was presented with a gift for himself and his ever-supportive wife Trudie. The evening provided a perfect setting to thank Andrew for his commitment, and also for him to say farewell to farmers and colleagues.

BQP help farmers breed and rear over 1 million pigs a year using industry-leading production systems, including outdoor born, straw-finished, RSPCA Freedom Food Assured, free range and organic. With around 30% of the UK market share, this makes us the UK’s largest pig business. BQP has supplied high welfare British pork to the major retailers in the UK for 40 years, since 1979.