RASE awards industry figures

Awarded by the Royal Agricultural Society of England to the landowner who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in successful land management and development of an agricultural estate in England, the medal has been awarded to Penelope Bossom, who owns and manages the Overbury Estate.

The RASE award for Excellence in Practical Farming and Business has been jointly awarded to E.C. Drummond and Son, of Herefordshire, and Philip Maddocks, of PDM Produce, Shropshire.

The Drummond family business incorporates arable production of cereals, peas and potatoes, as well as a large soft fruit operation, apple production, turf and poultry units. Philip Maddocks, who started his business in 1990, grows 12 acres of lettuce.

The RASE Research Medal for 2009 has gone to Dirk Pfeiffer, Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College. He leads research which models data of outbreaks of infectious disease, both endemic to the UK and also globally, which threaten the bio-security of flocks and herds in the UK and abroad.

Dr Stephen Moss, a research scientist from Rothamsted Research, has been awarded the RASE Technology Award, for work carried out on the Rothamsted Rapid Resistance Test, developed by his team, which provides a simple method of diagnosing resistance to herbicides in arable weeds.

The RASE Outstanding Communicator award has gone to Jimmy Doherty. In its citation, the RASE said each hour-long programme in the Jimmy Doherty’s Farming Heroes television series provided an ‘unbiased, informative and, most importantly, an inspirational view of agriculture and UK food production’.

The awards will be presented by society president Adel MacNicol at the Royal Show Charity Dinner on Tuesday, July 7.