‘There's been blood, sweat and tears so this is fantastic!’ - 42 pictures as farming industry celebrates at 2025 Rural Awards in Shropshire
The agricultural industry gathered in Shrewsbury to celebrate the region’s farming sector at the inaugural Rural Awards.
Organised by the Shropshire Star and its sister publication The Farmer, the awards dinner at Shrewsbury Town Football Club on Wednesday night (October 22) saw nearly 200 people from the farming industry come together to celebrate the people who drive the region’s agricultural industry.
Matthew Anwyl, a partner at award sponsor Berrys and one of the award judges, said: “It’s fantastic to see so many people here. The quality of entries was superb from such a range of enterprises. The effort people have put in has been incredible.”
Fellow judge Rosemary Allen, a retired dairy farmer and Shropshire Star contributor, added: “To see so many younger people coming up and doing proper farming is so good to see. It really has been excellent.”
After praising the efforts of the firms that backed the awards, which included sponsors Berrys, Dyke Yaxley, GS & PA Reeves, HJ Lea Oakes, WR Partners and Wynnstay, the host, local broadcaster Dicky Dodd, introduced the nominations and announced the 11 winners from each category.
And one Staffordshire business was crowned a triple winner.
PLAY @ Lower Drayton Farm, which started just five years ago, not only took the top prizes home for Educational Initiative of the Year and the Farm Diversification Award, but also won the coveted Farm of the Year honour.
Run by father and son Richard and Ray Bower, who have had a farm in Lower Drayton near Penkridge since the 1980s, the business diversified and opened it up to the public just after the Covid-19 pandemic to huge success.
After picking up their three awards, Richard Bower said: “It is unbelievable. We have a team of 72 staff, full- and part-time so these awards I’m accepting are on behalf of the whole team.
“It has been nine years in the making; it took two years to get planning permission, then the pandemic hit so we have only been operating for five years. And there has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears gone into it so this is fantastic.”
Among those that took home one of the coveted awards were Heath Farm Meats, which was chosen as Family Business of the Year; The Newport Show, which was named Rural or Farming Event of the Year; Agricultural Business of the Year Fielder Nutrition, Rural Accommodation of the Year winner Burlton Cottages & Spa; and the Young Farmer of the Year Harvey Pyke, aged 22, who works on his family farm in Whitchurch.
There was also a double winner on the night with Ludlow Farmshop winning not only Farm Shop of the Year but also the Sustainable Initiative Award.
