It's just a few days until the 2025 Northern Farmer Awards, and we're profiling our finalists in the run up to the big night on Thursday, February 20.
The winners across 11 categories will be announced at a glittering ceremony at Pavilions of Harrogate, the Great Yorkshire Showground.
Arable Farmer of the Year, sponsored by White Rose Agriculture Ltd
Mark Hutchinson
Mark Hutchinson returned to the family farm, Spikers Hill Farm in West Ayton, near Scarborough, in 2008 to work in partnership with his dad, having worked for 15 years in the oil exploration industry as an engineer.
They farm 960 acres, mostly in the North York Moors National Park – owning 730 acres at Spikers Hill and renting a further 230 acres from the National Park, near Filey.
It is a mixed farm with about 670 acres of arable, 120 Aberdeen Angus and 30 Wagyu cattle sold through Dovecote Park. There is also grassland; woodland which is a designated SSSI, a holiday cottage business with four cottages across two sites and some wildlife areas.
The farm rents 100 acres out for potatoes and grows 300 acres of wheat, using blended wheat varieties to reduce the need for fertiliser and chemical inputs.
Fifty acres of rye are being trialled as part of the rotation and to help increase nitrogen levels naturally.
The majority of crops are direct drilled and as they move more towards regenerative farming methods the fertiliser input has been reduced by about 30 per cent. The use of chemical sprays has been reduced, with crops only sprayed as and when necessary.
The farm has engaged with CS, FiPL, BNG and other National Park schemes including a Turtle Dove project.
Mark is a member of the AHDB benchmarking group for the York area, which involves the recording of crops and inputs.
Andrew Wilson
Andrew Wilson of Brickyard Farm, Slingsby, runs an arable enterprise on 400 acres close to the Castle Howard Estate.
Seventy acres are owned by the farm and 330 are rented from the estate. He also has a further 300 acres which he farms on an ongoing stubble to stubble agreement, and 150 acres used for potato growing. This gives a total of around 850 acres, 50 of which are now in stewardship.
The farm also dries corn for other local farmers, has a small sideline supplying straw and, for the past 26 years, has reared 1,250 B&B pigs for Ian Mosey.
Andrew took over the tenancy of the farm after his father’s death in 2018 but had been a joint tenant with his father for several years. The farm is a partnership along with mum, Ann, and wife, Liz.
Of the 150 acres of potatoes grown, 75 per cent are under contract to McCain, with the other 25 per cent going for crisping.
The farm at home grows a number of different crops including about 160 acres of winter wheat, 50 acres of winter barley, 40 acres of spring barley, 30 acres each of spring oats for seed and winter beans, 20 acres of milling oats and 50 acres of sugar beet.
The farm employs two full-time staff members year-round with four self-employed workers coming on board at potato harvest.
Andrew was a founder member of Future Farmers of Yorkshire, and is now an associate member of the management board.
M&J Dryden
M&J Dryden, based at Murton Moor Farm, is a family run farm located near Durham City which has grown from 200 acres in the 1970s to 690 acres of arable land today. It also provides agricultural contracting services on about 5,000 acres across County Durham, North Yorkshire and Tyne & Wear.
Richard farms with his father Martin, his mother Judith and his wife, Tanza.
This year Richard’s parents have stepped back and Richard and Tanza are now running the farm – Tanza doing most of the spraying and Richard focusing on the bigger jobs and business generation. They have one full-time member of staff.
The farm produces a variety of crops for different markets: about 350 acres of first and second wheat mainly for animal feed, with a small amount going to the Scottish whisky industry and the Ensus plant in Teesside for green energy ethanol production; 150 acres of barley for the Scottish beer and lager markets; animal feed for the cattle and horses, and 100 acres of beans for exporting globally.
The farm also has a small flock of sheep and B&B pigs and turkeys.
The land is mainly worked in a conventional manner, with about 80 per cent being ploughed, worked and drilled and 20 per cent being minimum tillage depending on weather conditions.
They balance arable production, contracting services and diversified farming enterprises while maintaining a strong focus on sustainability and quality.
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