Soil Farmer of the Year competition launches on World Soil Day

Farmers can now enter the 2025 Soil Farmer of the Year competition, which will celebrate leadership in soil management as a tool to support the overall resilience of farm businesses.

The competition, which is now in its 10^th year, is run in partnership by Farm Carbon Toolkit and Innovation for Agriculture. It is free to enter and open to all farmers in the UK.

Becky Wilson, business development and technical director at Farm Carbon Toolkit, says the competition recognises the vital contribution of soil to food production and maintaining functional ecosystems.

“There’s no getting away from the fact that 95% of global food production relies on soil^[1], while 60% of all species on the planet can be found in soil^[2], making it, quite literally, the foundation to life,” she says.

“It is because of the crucial role which soil plays that we set up the competition in the first place, and it is also why the judging criteria are based entirely on the extent to which the farm is prioritising soil health, the practices that are being implemented and how this is building resilience for each individual farm business.

“This means any farm can apply, regardless of acreage, enterprises or system,” she adds.

In addition to celebrating the achievements of farmers that have enhanced soil health, sharing knowledge is central to the ethos of the competition.

“The competition celebrates the successes of farmers who are putting soil front and centre of their management strategy, but also creates opportunities to easily share their experience and learnings with the wider farming community,” says Deborah Crossan, head of soils and natural resources at Innovation for Agriculture.

“The winners will be announced at Groundswell 2025, where they will be able to share some insights into their farm systems and practices implemented at the completion’s awards ceremony. They will also be supported to host a farm walk later in 2025.

“At a time when farm businesses are under increased pressure due to policy changes and changing climatic conditions, celebrating successes and coming together as a community to focus on what can be influenced and changed becomes all the more important,” she adds.

For 2025 the application process has been updated, so farmers can choose to submit a video or audio file answering the questions in the entry form, instead of a written submission. The application form is available at https://bit.ly/Soil-Farmer.

The competition is sponsored by Cotswold Seeds and Hutchinsons, with the first, second and third placed farmers receiving a Cotswold Seeds voucher for seeds and free entry to Groundswell.

[1] Soil structure and its benefits | Royal Society

[2] Ten Facts about Soil Biodiversity with Professor Richard Bardgett - LUNZ Hub