Winners Emerge in the 2025 Carbon Farmer of the Year Competition
The winners of the 2025 Carbon Farmer of the Year competition were announced on Tuesday, September 30, at the Farm Carbon Toolkit’s annual field day held at The Pink Pig Farm near Scunthorpe. Now in its third year, the competition, run by the Farm Carbon Toolkit and sponsored by HSBC UK Agriculture, celebrates farmers and growers who are leading the way in reducing on-farm greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing carbon storage.
The overall winners, Stuart and Helen Rogers of Longmoor Farm in north Dorset impressed judges with their profitable, pasture-based dairy system, underpinned by biodiversity, soil health, and tree planting. They supply milk to Waitrose and have demonstrated a strong commitment to climate-smart farming.
This year’s runners-up were Malcolm and Catherine Barrett of Tregooden Farm in Cornwall, who are Duchy of Cornwall tenants focused on agroforestry, diverse rotations, and community resilience, and Richard and Lyn Anthony from South Wales who are known for technical innovation and soil improvement.
Judging took place in August, with a panel comprising Steve Dunkley from HSBC UK, Liz Bowles the CEO of Farm Carbon Toolkit, and Joanne Sharpe, a non-executive director of Farm Carbon Toolkit, who praised the finalists’ innovation and dedication. Rob Purdew, senior farm advisor at Farm Carbon Toolkit, said: "Yet again, we have been blown away by the standard of entries to this year's Carbon Farmer of the Year competition. Each finalist has risen to the challenge of producing top-quality food at a time of ever-increasing scrutiny into the environmental cost of producing that food.”
Martin Hanson, HSBC Head of Agriculture, said: "As a business, we’re very keen to support the industry in transitioning towards net zero. While that will take many forms, we have the ambition to help farmers fund investment in the new practices and technologies needed to evolve. The Carbon Farmer of the Year competition is a great way of showcasing how farmers are already achieving these changes."
The Farm Carbon Toolkit is a farmer-led, not-for-profit organisation supporting farmers to measure, understand and reduce their emissions. Their Farm Carbon Calculator is used by over 10,000 farms across the UK.
