DAIRY INDUSTRY’S HIGHEST ACCOLADE AWARDED TO TONY EVANS
Andersons consultant and dairy farmer Tony Evans formally received the RABDF Princess Royal Award in a presentation at Buckingham Palace, by Her Royal Highness, earlier this week.
Receiving the award for his lifetime contribution to, and outstanding achievements in, the dairy industry Tony Evans says it was a great honour to be chosen and hopes his work will help nurture the next generation who are the future of our industry.
Mr Evans is recognised on a national level for his work in setting up discussion groups, business courses and joint ventures and admits that his flagship achievements include organising Nuffield Dairy study tours and the Entrepreneurs in Dairying courses run by the RABDF in conjunction with Andersons, AHDB Dairy and the NFU.
“One of my main concerns is how we are educating youngsters because as an industry we focus too much on technical excellence when instead we should be looking at real business sense – it’s vital to remember it’s not about producing more, but utilising capital better.”
Across his three farming enterprises Mr Evans employs eight staff, all of whom are from the UK, with the majority coming from non-farming backgrounds.
“All of the discussion around labour can either be taken as an issue or opportunity – we have capitalised on the latter and from that have created a business structure that educates and rewards employees, providing them with a great work life balance without reliance on automation.”
Mr Evans was chosen as the recipient of this award by the RABDF Board of Trustees who unanimously recognised his dedication to the industry and the crucial role he has played in educating and aspiring the next generation of dairy farmers through a number of initiatives.