Lower Drayton Farm located near Penkridge, has been awarded the county farm conservation competition for 2022. Managed by the Bower family, this mixed farm extends to approximately 200ha and cultivates a diversity of combinable crops. The business also grows pumpkins, carrots and potatoes to complement the general public amenity activities on the farm.
During the judging, a diversity of farmland habitats were observed, including beetle banks, flower-rich margins, river meadows, sensitively managed hedgerows and woodland. Dr Peter Groom, who judged the competition, was impressed by the quality of the wildlife habitats and the diversity of farmland birds. He said ‘it was very impressive to record a covey of English Partridge during the judging. This icon farmland bird has suffered serious decline, but Lower Drayton Farm appears to be supporting a healthy breeding population’. The Bower family will be hosting a farm walk during June 2023 to showcase their business’s environmental credentials.
The Whitegrove Trophy is sponsored by Chris Seabridge & Associates Ltd and Staffordshire & Birmingham Agricultural Society. If you are a farmer/landowner or land manager, and would like to enter the 2023 Whitegrove Trophy Competition or join the farm walk, visit the Chris Seabridge & Associates Ltd stand at Staffordshire County Show, which is located under the balcony in Bingley Hall.