THE winning farmers in Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group's new farming and wildlife competition were awarded their prizes by Owen Yeatman, NFU county chairman, at a presentation evening at the Hall and Woodhouse Brewery, Blandford.

The Otter Trophy 2004 was organised by the FWAG and sponsored by the NFU, Kingston Maurward College and the Ernest Cook Trust.

The competition aims to find the farm in Dorset that had most successfully incorporated conservation alongside its farming business. All the entrants were of a very high standard and the judges were impressed in every case, by their enthusiasm and commitment.

The worthy winner was Simon Meaden of Myncen Farm, Minchington.

Myncen Farm, is a mixed 260 acre enterprise, mostly devoted to cereals and oilseeds, with farm gate sales of pork, eggs and pumpkins. The judges agreed that 'Simons long term vision, enthusiasm and instinctive understanding of conservation needs, coupled with his willingness to promote his ideals and methods', scored most highly. 10 years in the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, has seen the restoration and sympathetic management of the farm's hedges, the creation of a small copse, and in recent years, the establishment of pollen and nectar 6 metre margins, around some of his arable fields.

This year there were two runners up. Dave Selby, an organic dairy farmer from Twyford, and Paul Loudoun, who farms 617 acres of permanent pasture along the Purbeck coast.