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00:002025 Farmer and Shropshire Star Rural Awards my name is Dickie Dodd and it's fantastic to see so
00:12many of you here this evening for our first ever event now we're really thrilled to be invited to
00:18be your host this evening and without a doubt the farming and rural communities are critical
00:24to the region's wider economy which is why it's so fantastic this evening we have dedicated
00:30award ceremony to everybody in this room tonight celebrating the success of individuals teams
00:35businesses organizations that make this sector thrive now tonight we've got 11 awards this evening
00:44and before we have a few welcomes and of course a tasty meal for us to all enjoy together ahead of
00:50the winners all being announced tonight's awards would not be possible without the support of
00:55our category sponsors so let's hear it first of all from Berries where's Berries tonight
01:00we're going to get louder maybe as we go on G.S. and P.A. Reeves
01:09H.J. Lee Oates nice and I love it W.R. Partners we're getting louder come on finally and last but not least
01:22where's Wednesday what are you guys butcher shop that started in BSE it was just a farm and we were
01:30here all our own beef pork lamb it all goes through the shop so it's it's all our own and that's that's
01:35the whole idea it's all our own it's not bought in you know where it comes from what do you prefer
01:39yourself beef pork or lamb uh beef or sausage sausages are my favorite oh sausage you can't
01:47beat it everybody well done to you congratulations enjoy your award and well done being our first
01:51winner tonight well done to Heath Farm Meats congratulations brilliant for the farm shop of the
01:58year so back again finalists Heath Farm Meats Ludlow Farm Shop and Mournberry Alpacas Graham over to
02:09you to announce the winner close to the mic please Graham G.S. and P.A. Reeves them oh sorry
02:14Ludlow Farm Shop well done Ludlow Farm Shop where are you okay Paul go on you've got 20 seconds to do an advert for your business
02:25um it's the best farm shop around we've been around for 18 years I have a fantastic team of lovely ladies as you can see with me
02:33um very proud of what we do there and hope to try and keep it going for many more all years
02:38okay please put me on the spot then what's your USP my USP our USP is an eight and a half thousand acre estate
02:44beef and lamb from the estate wall garden fresh vegetables as local as we possibly can
02:51so literally Sunday lunch is sorted at your place absolutely right yes well then no wonder you went
02:55congratulations well done everybody brilliant stuff thank you be careful to step on the way now
03:03well done to Ludlow Farm Shop and thank you again to Graham as well for giving out the award okay see
03:09who are the winners of the educational initiative of the year opening up the green envelope make some noise
03:17please for the 2025 educational initiative of the award it goes to play at Lower Drayton Farm
03:25the rich and pray who plans to get to love you can go first in that game
03:31go on then Lower Drayton Farm tell us all about your business
03:33I think our ethos at the moment is we're trying to get people something real in this AI world that we live in
03:38and as farm in the broader community we can give people something real as well I'd also like to say we
03:42open at 10 o'clock tomorrow guys we've got light-o, light-o, light-o, we'll all have a hangover and come over to the farm
03:49Ray what's your family bit about Lower Drayton Farm customers
03:55I've got to say I brought my grandchildren to your place and we love it honestly my two
04:05grandchildren Reuben and Rea and they love it and no wonder you won this tonight congratulations
04:09I have the green envelope here do you like how we've done green envelopes not gold envelopes by the way
04:21it's good isn't it I love it okay everybody make some noise
04:24the winner of the farming rural event of the year 2025 is the Newport show
04:35How many years has the Newport show been going for now over 150 years 150 years and you've been there every year oh absolutely
04:46okay what's your favorite bit about the show oh I love everything about the show I love
04:50I love seeing all the visitors coming in I love all the livestock I love all the businesses working
04:56together it's just a fabulous day out for all the family now on the day the magic happens but there's
05:02a lot of work that goes in beforehand as well how many months planning does it actually take it
05:06it takes a full year yeah and I must say that I'm accepting this award on behalf of the society
05:13and the team here tonight with me but actually see over 200 volunteers that actually come and give up
05:20their time during the year planning the year planning the day and turning off on a day that make the big
05:25difference so thank you to all of them too well welcome to Salimity for the Newport show make some noise
05:29everybody thank you so much brilliant board with us the winners are of the rural accommodation of the year award 2025
05:39and the winners are Belton cottages and spa
05:51so how many cottages have you got we've got four cottages okay at Belton um which is between
05:57Trosbury and Helsing okay and tell us about the spa bit as well oh the spa is the swimming pool
06:02sauna steam room gym and we also have a treatment room as well and did you have to test drive all the
06:08facilities before you open absolutely and during Covid it was marvellous when we closed so you had it all to
06:14yourself absolutely yeah okay 22nd advert then sell it go both the cottages place coming in
06:20Stropshire we're part primary cottages we have 14 beds we do yoga weekends spa we've got a Thai massage
06:31we've got most things yeah excellent i think when my wife sees this award because i need to tell
06:37about this she's going to want me to book a place so i'll be coming along yeah yeah everybody you
06:43know even even the shops wouldn't stay with us because people don't know what to travel for
06:46a gym on the doorstep absolutely well done guys worthy winners well
06:50let's here you go enjoy the rest of the business brilliant step another winning away tonight
06:54see you've got the job you are the winners and the winner is fielder nutrition
07:09slightly nervous i didn't even know that my son had entered this into this oh really it's a big
07:14surprise massive surprise massive surprise but very very pleased sorry to put you on the spot then so
07:20tell us about your business then how long have you been going first of all 30 years that's uh
07:25based in shortshire we have a national business with plant nutrients we sell it throughout the uk
07:30ireland and lastly into new zealand new zealand new zealand yeah you go and do the delivery
07:37yourself actually funnily enough there's a massive cricket fan and there's an aussie's game
07:42for the sustainable initiative award 2025 make some noise please for ludlow farm shoppers
08:10so what did you say about your business that you didn't say earlier on um everything we try to
08:15do we try to make sustainable so whether it's for the packaging that we use whether it's the bio
08:20digester that we use to get rid of the food waste and literally everything we think we try to think
08:24about plastic audits you know i mean we try to do it so when it comes to like the ways for the packaging
08:30that so how do you make it so it's biodegradable all that kind of stuff and whatever so we try to go
08:35compostable where we can um so we use a product called natureflex which is a product that can go
08:40into your home composting and just remove the label put the bag in the hot composting and it will go
08:45excellent stuff that is brilliant ladies and gents please make some noise uh from ludlow farm shop again
08:51awarding a second time around brilliant congratulations
08:55for all business that's identified an opportunity to grow through diversifying from their core business now
09:03please can i invite matthew anwell from our sponsors berries to announce the winner
09:23do you think you're gonna make it through there
09:25honestly it's brilliant so second award um you're gonna have to do an extension of one of the
09:32buildings i think start putting the awards in yeah yeah sorry i'm asking the question
09:39great right low drayton farm was it your idea to start the business sort of why is that why sort of
09:46well we start yes it's been um we went saw my space okay um we got some maize we cut the pattern out
09:56and then the government started doing farm education which we do as you see and then richard came on the
10:02scene his middle name now is grant
10:08it's just built from there it's our farm it's our show well look i'm gonna say you've got a great business
10:15no one even won two awards you never know you could make it three congratulations guys once again
10:21low drayton farm everybody brilliant work brilliant work here over to you so the young
10:28farmer of the year award goes to harvey pike
10:36can i ask you a question first of all be very rude how are you 22 22 uh what age did you start farming
10:41not really literally straight in yeah they are popped out it's uh i've spoken to a few farmers in
10:50the room tonight and they say that it gets in your blood what do you love the best about farming being
10:55able to provide a sustainable supply of food for this great country love that love that tell us about
11:02your working day then what time does it start what time does it end uh depends whether i had young
11:08farmers the night before or not uh anywhere from i suppose five in the morning till probably ten in
11:13the morning uh depending on how many beers we have the night before um yeah no we're uh family business
11:20in the morning in the afternoon and then the full-time job in the day and why is that
11:26because the the price of regret is higher than the price of failure so you may as well have a go
11:32um finally what's your most favorite bits of farming what do you get most enjoyment from um
11:42i don't know um probably sounds daft you go to a cricket game or you go to the city and you see all
11:48these people have no idea what goes into producing their food but three times a day you'll look part of
11:53the reason that they have a meal on their plates and when you stand there in a big crowd you think all
11:57these people here today all of us in this room contributed to one of their three meals throughout
12:02the day and that's probably the best part of farming so the winner is for farm of the year 2025
12:20and it goes to lower drayton farm
12:28thank you so so much cannot believe it i wish our bank manager was here actually because i'm sharing
12:32this as well so a lot of blood sweat and tears are going to it obviously shows what can be achieved
12:37when two generations work together as well absolutely i think you are just so deserved
12:41well it's like i said we visited with our family i urge anybody else to go and support this business
12:45you are amazing people you're doing an amazing job everybody make some noise for lower drayton farm
12:49our triple winners then i welcome partners please could i invite roy jackson uh to the stage
12:59to reveal who the 2025 recipient is the winner of the lifetime achievement award this year is um the ladies
13:18halide griffiths
13:26tonight we honor a man whose legacy continues to shape the agricultural world even though
13:31he's sadly no longer with us the lifetime achievement award he's presented posthumously
13:36he was a visionary a leader and a tireless advocate for farming and rural life throughout his life
13:43he exemplified dedication integrity and generosity his work touched countless lives and his influence
13:50extended far beyond the fields that he knew so well whether mentoring young farmers championing
13:58innovation or representing the industry with pride and he gave everything to be uh to the land and
14:04the people that he had to work with now mr griffiths not only set up griffiths family farms one of the
14:09largest egg producers in the uk back in 1969 but also served as the chairman of the nfu poultry committee
14:17was the founding chairman of the british egg industry council and vice president of the poultry working
14:24group over in brussels as well though we mourn his absence we now celebrate his extraordinary contribution
14:31his legacy lives on in the standards he sets the lives he shaped and the future he helped build please
14:39join us in remembering and honoring everybody to your feet alid griffiths obe
14:46i think those who know dad uh yeah it's quite quite honestly speaking on behalf of him uh he went to japan to get a achievement award he went to bennis he went to cardiff
15:14he will say he's a a simple farm boy he started his life in north wales lost his father in the war
15:20like a lot of his generation and uh he had a dream and an aspiration and hard work and hard play
15:25got him to where he was he was he could say he's a welsh missionary came to shropshire but i think like
15:31a lot of true spring shropshire people they never forgot their welsh roots uh and again it's he never
15:36actually quite realized he made it i did say before i bought him a father's day card uh uh 20th of june uh
15:43whatever it was before uh just he died and he was possibly the best father in the world i didn't
15:48want to get too arrogant because he was quite confident he said is he i said just mark where
15:52you've been in the world dad and he said it's easier for me to mark where i haven't been
15:56uh and i said when he passed 17 countries were represented and uh he didn't just sort of come to
16:02shropshire uh uh around the world people came to shropshire because of him and uh we're going to
16:07lap here next weekend and the people just said well will the griffith family be allowed there
16:11what we've been to see the griffiths farmers so we've got anywhere in the world and dad is better
16:15than that uh it's a very humble man thank you amazing that obviously calling wales works in shropshire
16:23but now and around the world as well that's incredible yeah i was gonna say i think you
16:28there's a very humbly ingredient some people know dad you know he always like to work hard and
16:31party hard he'd be last want to go home and i think some of the accolades the use of the english
16:37language fails me but one of the best thing was i never realized i had an argument with your father
16:42but i went in the room and i changed my mind and changed my opinion i never had an argument but i
16:47left better educated uh and i understood his point of view and it was a great ability uh for dad to
16:53actually express difference uh and bring people together for all in the world if he was here tonight
16:59what do you think you would say when receiving this award just have a good party ladies and gents
17:06the griffith family awards oh absolutely fantastic it's just uh one of the biggest surprises of the
17:14year we've we've had a few wars before but tonight wow so tell us a little about the farm so it's a
17:19working farm but you also do a lot of education and um place for families to kill i mean when did you
17:25start i mean whose idea was it well we've been at lower drain since 1982 family files five miles away
17:32where the brother was and um when you you said about six nearly 20 years ago we started doing a little
17:39bit getting public up we had horses you know we're so things like that and then uh
17:47uh so i'll say this is almost nine years in the making this it took us two years to get planning
17:55permission to start off with it took us another two years to build it then covert hit and then we've
18:00been open for five years basically and and yeah a lot of blood sweat and tears yeah regeneration
18:05you've just been telling me how many staff you got you exactly an amazing team around us local people
18:11and amazing suppliers around us as well people who backed us right from the start and didn't win us right
18:15right from the start as well which is incredible and then we give work experience opportunities as
18:19well so um yeah like i said this is not just about us we're lucky to be here tonight and we're over
18:23the moon but yeah thanks to all our team there please support us really and your customers the sort of
18:27people do you get i mean do you get the same faces or it's just a completely wider damn it yeah the one
18:33that gets me there's five schools in penkridge which is the end of our farm and i can't think the last
18:38time about the school the only problem with the schools are we've got a bus company in our yard as well
18:44they can go on the bus without seat belts but to come to the farm they have to get on a couch with
18:49seat belts but we've had schools at least two schools from leicestershire oh yeah so you get
18:55people from all over the car yeah yeah but like i was saying earlier we've realized at the moment we're
19:00giving people something real in this ai world digital world that we live in they're going to pick
19:04potatoes at the moment carrots on the soil get a bit of dirt under their fingernails and the clarkson effect
19:09everybody knows about the clarkson effect at the moment everybody's really addressing the
19:11farm and agriculture everybody who's here tonight's what he feels saying about that and yeah let's
19:16just keep promoting that together as well really so we feel so lucky to be part of this community
19:21something else that popped into my head today is we think about influencers and digital influencers
19:25well there's farmers our influencers are those that went before us to be honest our grandparents our
19:29parents and all the amazing work they're real influencers to be honest and you know so much
19:33appreciation to those guys as well and yeah the community is is amazing community really and the
19:37royal awards is fantastic for that community it's so funny you're just saying about potato
19:41picking potatoes we get the grandparents come and reminisce picking by hand and the children come
19:48along oh they're dirty well you know where the crops grow yeah we get all ages from the grandparents
19:55the kids the grandparents remember the old days when they had to pick the potatoes by hand as well
19:58really and that's all mechanized and robots and all the data that he uses as farmers as well so we're
20:03sharing all that with our customers well congratulations to both thank you
20:33so
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