The Future Farmer Award is a new initiative funded by the Elizabeth Murray Trust. Each year a trailblazing Scottish farmer will be given £4,000 and a package of practical support to help them promote their ideas to other farmers and land managers.
Applications for the Future Farmer Award are welcome from anyone farming in Scotland who is keen to inspire others to try practical ideas for improving the environmental sustainability of farming. The type of approach which the Future Farmer Award seeks to promote include:
- Minimizing downstream flooding by managing soils and vegetation to slow rainwater run-off;
- Using traditional breeds of livestock with characteristics which make the animals well adapted to the particular farm;
- Integrating native woodland management with grazing livestock;
- Reducing the carbon footprint of a farm by reducing inputs and developing local markets to minimize the food miles of produce sold;
- Developing new ideas for productive and sustainable management of hill land;
- Creating the right conditions for commercially useful 'wild' plants to grow;
- Other ideas, new or old, which could improve the environmental sustainability of farming in Scotland.
The Award will be launched in January 2008 and entries should be submitted between then and the 14th April 2008. See here for more information about the award scheme and here for the application form.