The stage is almost set for the 2024 Northern Farmer Awards, with a fine crop of finalists chosen across ten categories.
The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony at Pavilions of Harrogate, the Great Yorkshire Showground, on Thursday, February 22, and in the run-up to the big day, we 're publishing mini-profiles of all our finalists.
The overall 2024 Northern Farmer of the Year, chosen by the panel of judges from the winners of the ten categories, will also be revealed on the night.
Arable Farmer of the Year, sponsored by White Rose Agriculture Ltd.
Tom Sanderson, The Grange, Topcliffe.
Tom Sanderson of The Grange, Topcliffe, Thirsk, took over the farm from his father and has increased the area of potatoes over the last six years from 80 acres to 200 acres.
Tom, who prides himself on running a clean farm, also has a herd of 120 cattle he fattens every year.
The family farms 400 acres a year and also cultivates fodder beet and temporary grassland around the arable rotation. The 200 acres of potatoes are grown on rented land and go for crisps (the farm was previously KP’s Grower of the Year). They also have permanent grassland, lamb 310 big Suffolk cross ewes to the Suffolk tup, and graze and finish 110-120 continental cattle a year.
Tom is in partnership with his parents, but is in overall charge these days, with his parents still having a constructive and important influence.
The potato land is all ploughed, the cereals are established either by plough or sumo, and they have two agronomists – one for cereals and beet, and the other for potatoes. Tom employs four full-time staff, aged from 20 to 58, plus others on a casual basis. There is one dedicated shepherdess to do the lambing, and a 15-year-old trainee.
“Youth is important and trying to encourage young talent is paramount to our business and should be to the industry as a whole,” says Tom.
Three local men from other farms help to plant potatoes, and two local women grade into and out of store when lifting potatoes.
Simon Robinson, Headlam Farms, Darlington.
The Robinson family of Headlam Farms, Headlam House, Headlam, Darlington, has farmed in the same village for several generations.
In the 1970s, Simon’s father took over the farm from his grandfather, then in the mid-1970s the family bought Headlam Hall and its farmland.
Simon, being the oldest son, was destined to take over the family farming enterprise, so the family decided to develop the hall and gardens as a hotel that could be run by Simon’s brothers and sister.
Read more: Finalists revealed for 2024 Northern Farmer Awards
Over the years, the hotel has expanded and added a spa, becoming a popular wedding venue. In 2004, Simon developed some old pasture land on the farm adjoining the hotel and built a nine-hole golf course with the aid of a European grant. This is now managed and operated as part of the hotel enterprise.
The farm itself totals about 500 acres and grows about 66 acres of OSR, 30 acres of winter beans, 94 acres of winter barley, 190 acres of winter wheat, 50 acres of rye and about 25 acres are rented out for potato growing. The remaining acreage is grass.
The OSR is sold out of the field for general use and sometimes goes for feed or bio fuel. The beans, barley and wheat all go to Grainco for animal feed. The rye is grown for a local pig farmer as feed for his pigs.
Simon runs and works the farm himself with the aid of a part-time man at times.
The farm is in a mid-tier stewardship and he is also a AHDB monitor farm for bench marking.
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