The Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust has announced the appointment of their largest cohort ever with 23 new Scholars for 2024, four of whom are involved in the beverage crop and fresh produce sectors.
Lucy George owns a 35 acre pick your own fruit farm near Cardiff, which she diversified in 2015 to incorporate tea production. The farm now specialises in organically certified speciality tea and premium kombucha production and supplies many prestigious outlets around the world. The diversification into tea has been a lifeline for a small, previously struggling horticultural farm. Lucy believes further research is needed into how farmers can reliably establish tea in the UK as a high value diversification, integrated into a multi-functional, biodiverse landscape. To delve into this topic, Lucy wishes to visit Italy, France, South Korea, China and Japan.
Polly Hilton is the founder and cider maker at Find & Foster Fine Ciders, a small business which aims the reveal the potential of traditional Devon cider orchards by creating champagne-method ciders. Polly believes that the Fine Cider industry has untapped potential in the UK and is keen to learn more about how its value can be communicated to consumers. She hopes to achieve this by learning from the best cider makers and winemakers in the world about improving product quality, visiting France, Georgia, Switzerland, Northern Spain, and Brazil. Polly will also speak to other experts about transforming the reputation and raising the value of Fine Cider.
Amy Stoner is a food technologist and quality assurance professional working in the food manufacturing sector. She has an interest in building supply chain resilience to ensure food safety and quality and would like to further understand the challenges facing fresh produce supply chains now and in the future. She will explore long-term strategies to ensure produce security in the UK by visiting experts and businesses across Europe and Asia.
Harold Winslet is the future farming manager at Cambs Farms Growers, a large fresh produce provider operating in the East Anglian Fens. He hopes to further develop his understanding of soils and the complexities of peatlands. During his Scholarship, Harold will examine the possibilities of alternative methods of production on peatlands, including paludiculture (farming on rewetted peat) and rotational wetting, and explore if techniques used internationally could be utilised in the UK. He would like to visit Northern Europe and South East Asia.
Over the course of their Scholarships, they will travel internationally to gain an in-depth understanding of their study topic from global experts.
“Following a substantial number of exceptional applicants this year, we are delighted to announce our biggest ever cohort of Nuffield Farming Scholars,” says Mike Vacher, Director of the Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust. “Our 2024 Scholars have already displayed a clear passion for their chosen topics, and I have no doubt that they have the potential to become leaders who shape the future of agriculture.
“We are looking forward to introducing our 2024 cohort to the Nuffield Farming family at this year’s ‘Super Conference’ in Exeter. This will be the pinnacle of what is already set to be a fantastic event, with over 30 Scholars presenting their study findings.”