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19 October 2023
BQP farmers from across the North of England gathered on Tuesday,17 October, for the annual BQP Farmers Awards North in North Yorkshire.
These annual awards celebrate the best in the industry from across the North of England and include trade stands and guest speakers. This year’s Northern regional winners included 16 winners across 16 categories which were presented by Fábio Brancher, Mark Vining and Mark Jagger. In addition, the event was sponsored by several leading names across the industry. The prestigious Farmer of the Year North 2023 award was given to Duffin and the team. The other winners included:
| Category | Winner |
| Breeding Awards | |
| Trainee of the Year (apprentice or undergoing training) | Emma Kilgallon (Johnson) |
| Breeding Stockperson of the Year | Tony Smithergale (Elms) |
| Breeding Manager of the Year | Nigel Bagguley (Duffin) |
| Most Improved Breeding Farm | Wilson |
| Breeding Highest Performer | Newlove |
| Special Achievement Award | Duffin |
| Partnership Award | Forbes Macdonald |
| Growing Awards | |
| Next Generation Award (Young farmer) | Ed Jackson – Hall Bank and Amblers |
| Growing Farms Stockperson of the Year | Eoin Cleverdon (Daws) |
| Most Improved Growing Farm | Webster |
| Best Growing Farm Performance (below 1500 pigs) | Dawkins |
| Best Growing Farm Performance (above 1500 pigs) | Charlton |
| Best Two Stage Growing Performance | Middlewood |
| Feed Management Award | Westmorland |
| Above and Beyond award | James Owen |
| Farmer of the Year – North | Duffin |
Howard Revell, Pig Production Director, helped judge the winners and explained: “It is wonderful to once again be in Yorkshire and reconnect with so many of our farming partners across this wonderful region. The event was also about celebrating those big wins and recognising our farmers and their continued hard work. It was a pleasure to award so many of them and highlight everyone’s efforts.”
Fabio Brancher, Operations Director – Agriculture, added: “Following our successful East of region awards, I was pleased to join our North region awards. This was my first awards event in this region, and it gave me a chance to speak to our farmers and those that support the industry. I was once again impressed with the passion and level of commitment of our farmers and those in the sector. I want to express my and the businesses gratitude to everyone for navigating another year of challenges – its clear to see our farmers and our support teams are working non-stop to ensure we continue to aim to be the best in our sector.”
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 over 40 years, since 1979.
Howard added: “I also want to thank all our sponsors for supporting and highlighting the event. With so much going in our sector I also want to thank the BQP team for continuing to work hard and supporting our farmers – you are the backbone of our business.”