2022 Bledisloe Gold Medal presented to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Sandringham and Windsor Estates

Four awards were presented at the Royal Agricultural Society of England’s annual Bledisloe day held last September. The event was kindly hosted by last year’s winner of the prestigious Bledisloe Gold Medal for Landowners; the Raveningham Estate.

First awarded in 1957, the Bledisloe Gold Medal is awarded in recognition of a landowner “having done outstanding service in encouraging the application of science and technology to some branch of British husbandry”. As such, in 2022 the Bledisloe Gold Medal was presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Sandringham and Windsor Estates.

The society was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Her Majesty after the Award was presented. As Patron of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Her Majesty was a great champion of the agricultural community.  

The Royal Family have direct involvement in both estates, with a particular emphasis on sustainable stewardship. The estates experience high visitor numbers, with 5 million visitors a year at Windsor alone. Tree and hedge planting have been high priority and there are biomass systems on both estates. All farmland is organic accredited. 

Commenting on the Bledisloe Gold Medal award, RASE chairman Philip Gready stated “We are honoured to have been able to make the award to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Estates and we will forever be indebted for her patronage and support to the Royal Agricultural Society of England and for her service to agriculture and the entire nation.”

Along with the Bledisloe Gold Medal, the society additionally awarded the ‘Excellence in Practical Farming’ Award which was presented to mixed farmer Edwin Taylor of Durhamfield Farm, and ‘The National Agricultural Award’ which was presented to Graeme Cock, Chairman of Mole Valley Farmers.

Also presented was the RASE Science and Practice award which was re-launched earlier this year following the recent publication of the RASE ‘Farm of the Future: Journey to Net Zero’ report. The report pulls together the latest science and its on-farm application, identified practical steps to decarbonise the farming industry, with a key focus on the role that innovation can play in aiding farmers to reduce emissions. With this in consideration, the Science and Practice award was received by Professor Simon Pearson, Director of the Lincoln Institute of Agri-Food Technology.

Co-editor of the Farm of the Future report Richard Gueterbock commented “RASE have re-created this award to support transition to more circular farming systems.  The award to Simon Pearson was well deserved for his leadership of the team at Lincoln that combines robotics, agri-tech and crop science to enhance productivity and sustainability. The others on the shortlist, Sam Watson Jones, co-founder of Small Robot Company, a leading provider of per-plant solutions based on AI and robotics, and Jonny Kerley of KisanHub, a supply chain software supplier to the fresh produce sector, have also made a significant contribution to delivering the systems change required by the climate emergency.

The society are most grateful to Raveningham Estates for hosting such an enjoyable day which celebrated the very best achievements of British Agriculture.