Leader in the limelight

Russ McKenzie

Russ McKenzie manages 995 ha of arable land on the Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire border alongside undertaking several trials – from varieties to agronomy inputs – while also providing independent consultancy for two different companies. In addition, he runs the diversification side of the business with his wife Ellie.

Russ also sits on the AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Sector Council, was a 2014 Nuffield Farming Scholar and Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) innovator of the year 2022. It goes without saying, Russ is a busy man.

Charlie Steer

Charlie grew up on his family’s small mixed farm in Cheshire. All the family had other businesses as well – his dad, grandad and uncle had a business manufacturing and selling tools, conveyors and handling equipment, while his mum has her own rural chartered surveying business – so he had an interesting upbringing.

Charlie was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship in 2019. Through this, he explored ‘The Circular Farm’, examining how the circular economy can minimise inputs and maximise outputs in farming systems.

Phil Jarvis

Phil is the Land and Estates Director for Albanwise Ltd., which manages land in Norfolk and Yorkshire, cropping sugar beet, cereals, oilseed rape, maize, rye, peas, beans and potatoes. He also chairs the Voluntary Initiative, championing the best use of plant protection products, delivered through Integrated Pest Management.

Phil is a member and former Chair of the National Farmers Union, Environmental Forum and Vice Chair of the NFU National Combinable Crops Board.

Angus Nelless

Alongside his brother Duncan, Angus operates the thriving 700-hectare Thistleyhaugh Farm.

Angus and Duncan are the driving force behind the family-run enterprise that boasts a flock of 2,000 Signet-recorded Lleyn ewes and specialises in breeding and finishing around 260 Aberdeen Angus x Hereford suckler cattle.

John Pawsey

John runs an organic mixed farm in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. This consists of 650 ha of owned land and 1,160 ha farmed on Contract Farming Agreements or Farm Business Tenancies.

He grows combinable crops, including heritage wheat, spelt, milling oats, malting barley, lentils, vetches and chia. He also has 1,000 outdoor-lambing New Zealand Romney sheep.

Nicola Carr

Nicola manages the team, accounts and technical side of the business at Lincolnshire Farm Services and Bomber County Produce, which supplies leeks and asparagus to major UK supermarkets. The farm also grows wheat, barley, oilseed rape and sugar beet.

Nicola recognises the value of retaining good people and is committed to building strong working relationships within her team. The farm is very much a part of the local community, hosting an annual music festival and supporting many local events.

Becci Berry

Becci runs a 365 ha mixed farm on the beautiful Oxfordshire/Wiltshire borders. Approximately 200 ha is tenanted from the National Trust. Formerly a dairy farmer, she now rears 200 head of native beef cattle and manages various arable operations.

As a third-generation farmer, Becci’s late husband, Richard, was passionate about the dairy and taking the farm forward. In 2010 he was devastatingly diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer. With two young daughters, Becci took the decision to take on the farm and continue building the dairy, which she did until 2021.

Charlotte Baillie

Charlotte grew up on a beef and sheep farm in Ayrshire. She spent time milking cows in New Zealand before a brief stint at SRUC and Promar. She now farms in partnership with her husband Robert and her in-laws, Robert and Margaret, in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Emma Middleton

Emma farms in Lincolnshire with her husband, Andrew. They run a small suckler herd together with a rearing-to-finishing beef enterprise and a free-range egg production unit.

Emma looks after the farm administration and people management side of things, alongside running her own successful business helping other businesses with their finances, book-keeping and payroll. She is also a keen podcaster, a busy mum to three daughters, chair of the local school governors and a parish councillor.