Alice Andrews of Ceres Rural was presented with the Young Agronomist of the Year Award at the National Arable & Grassland Awards at a glittering ceremony in London earlier this week.
Following an undergraduate degree in Biological Science at Leeds and a Masters in Sustainable Agriculture at Harper Adams, Alice started her career in Oxfordshire with Agrovista on their graduate training scheme starting her FACTS and BASIS qualifications. Following this she went to work for Strutt & Parker as an agronomist and also worked on all aspects of farm management.
Ceres Rural
After four years Alice joined Ceres Rural and eventually relocated to Saffron Walden where she currently looks after 9 clints covering nearly 5,000 hectares. She has become increasingly involved with clients who are working to integrate more regenerative farming principles into their management systems. She is doing this by encouraging clients to achieve this by enhancing soil health to facilitate the reduction of artificial inputs on both arable and mixed systems.
Ms Andrews is proud to be the winner of such an award as she believes that the existence of such an award is proof that many young people are coming into the industry “I am thrilled to win the award. This is a great affirmation of the work I do. It is also heartening to see so many young people coming into this industry.”
In order to keep up with the latest developments and technology, Alice regularly attends briefings and seminars to learn about new products or services. She has become increasingly interested in the role variable rate seed and fertiliser can play in optimising inputs. Alice is also trialling different carbon calculator tools for clients to assess the current carbon status on their farms. Over the next three years she will be looking at what changes can be made to farming practices to enhance the carbon sequestration ability of farmers soils without compromising profitability.
