Carbon Farmer of the Year
Announcing the launch of the 2025 Carbon Farmer of the Year Competition
After the success of last year’s competition we are delighted to announce that the 2025 competition is now open for entries.
How to apply
To apply or nominate a farmer or organisation you know, please fill in our application form here
The closing date is Monday 30th June 2025.
Background
Carbon determines our global climate system. This is having increasing effects on how we live our lives and is shaping how we should conduct ourselves. There are means to adapt to climate change whilst remaining productive and profitable, but sometimes we need pioneers to guide the way.
March of this year sees the launch of the 2025 Farm Carbon Toolkit’s Carbon Farmer of the Year Competition. This competition champions UK farmers who are leading the way in adopting farming practices and developing new technologies which reduce farm emissions whilst optimising output, and adapting to climate change. We extend our thanks to HSBC UK Agriculture for their kind support.
Martin Hanson- Head of Agriculture, HSBC UK
“HSBC UK Agriculture are pleased to be working with Farm Carbon Toolkit, in supporting the Carbon Farmer of the Year award for the second year in succession. The industry is making progress in the reduction of emissions, but there is still much more which could be done to support farmers. These awards are a great way of showcasing and sharing examples of how farmers are achieving improvements and publicly recognising their achievements. The team at HSBC UK Agriculture are committed to supporting the industry in transitioning towards net zero and while that will take many forms, we have the ambition to support and champion change and importantly the finance available to allow investment in new practices and technologies.“
You can read about our 2024 winner Andrew Brewer here
Rewarding farmers
This competition is the only one of its kind which seeks to identify and reward those who are working hard to reduce emissions and remove carbon on farms.
We will be looking to reward those who are:
- implementing effective emissions reduction and mitigation practices
- adopting new technologies which are appropriate and beneficial
- providing inspiration for others to successfully emulate
For more than a decade FCT has been working to facilitate discussion and information-sharing between farmers and other actors on climate change and emissions within agriculture. This work has ultimately helped lead to changes in on-farm practice, but there are many farmers leading the way. Through this competition we will celebrate them and their achievements, and hopefully will inspire others on how they can best reduce emissions and build carbon stores on their farms.
Creating a carbon farming network
Network creation is of paramount importance and this competition aims to build levels of carbon literacy amongst farmers and land managers, while also raising the profile of the many effective ways in which on-farm emissions can be reduced and increased carbon storage can be achieved.
The Carbon Farmer of the Year competition allows for discussions on carbon emissions and sinks on farms to be framed in a very practical way. FCT plans to achieve this through on-farm events and workshops, discussions on new innovations in machinery and techniques, and by learning more about new research and linking into other projects.
The long term objective of this competition is to create a network of alumni who are changing their management practices to better manage emissions and carbon storage on farmland who will inspire others through activity, practical demonstrations and advocacy for changing management practices.
When and where?
Every year we will launch the competition in early March. The winners will be announced at our Annual Field Day in the Autumn. (Date and venue to be announced).
