27th October 2008 | Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London
2006 NFU Farming Champion
IAN PIGOTT
WHAT MAKES HIM
A WINNER
- A champion for British farming
- Brings unique experience as a City trader to his business
- Used Nuffield Scholarship studies to spawn Farm Sunday
- Raising the profile of UK farming among non-farming audiences by developing local events such as the Hertfordshire County Show
- A trustee of Farming and Countryside Education
- A flexible and brave business manager
- Capitalises on opportunities such as proximity of 10m people to his farm
Visit Farmers Weekly Interactive for more about the 2006 Awards
What is a farming champion? Someone who goes beyond the call of duty and their own business self interests to promote the values of farming to the public.
Ian Pigott did exactly that with Farm Sunday, which was staged on 11 June this year. Farm Sunday became Ian’s brainchild following a Nuffi eld scholarship looking at how to include agriculture within the school curriculum.
It was an enormous success and tempted thousands of people to visit 350 farms throughout Britain to learn about farming methods and the countryside.
“Farm Sunday was a brilliantly straightforward idea. All I did was get people to see the opportunity of a national farm open day as they do in Denmark. LEAF embraced the idea and it worked,” says Ian.
Polishing farming’s public relations message is no mere spin, but a vital means of winning and maintaining the public’s confidence. “Unless agriculture gets its PR in order, UK farming is in trouble. We are still regarded by many as a hard working and honest industry. But we are drifting towards the perception of a subsidy-driven and belly-aching industry.”
PUBLIC PERCEPTION
Communication is the key means of improving the public’s perception of farming. “Since I returned to the farm, I’m most proud of my communication work. I’ve done a lot of work helping to revitalise the Herts County Show. After nearly dying some years ago, it has been revamped to achieve the status of a new fl agship farming showcase, which attracts up to 45,000 people over two days.”
He also harbours an ambitious plan to launch an on-farm classroom to enable inner city children to visit a working farm and enjoy learning in a natural farmyard.
Meanwhile, he has restructured the family farm. Nine years ago he traded his job as a high profi le city commodity trader for the management of the Hertfordshire unit.
He cites three resources that stand out as pivotal to the success of his diversifi ed arable business – proximity to a wealthy population, willingness to communicate and an excellent working relationship with his father. “I’m farming next door to 10m people.” In addition to letting buildings out for offi ce space, the farm has a thriving horse livery business.
But the star in his business plan crown is a brave decision to convert 240ha (600 acres) of land to organic production. “The main driver is budgeting and analysis. Reducing support payments underlines the need to diversify income streams,” says Ian.
The farm’s soils can average more than 8t/ha of wheat, 3.5- 3.75t/ha of OSR and up to 5t/ha of winter beans. But those yields are not enough to assure the farm’s fi nancial security for future generations: “Unless you can average 10t/acre, you can’t compete in a global market-place. I want our arable enterprise to stand up in its own right, hence the conversion to organic production.”
Ian is passionate about farming and wants to share that passion with as many people new to farming as possible.
*The NFU Farming Champion of the Year is selected by Farmers Weekly and the NFU. It is an individual who has shown outstanding commitment to communicate farming to the public.
