Students from Bristol University, Duchy College and Harper Adams University have beat off a bumper number of entries to win this year's RABDF's Farm Health Management Award, sponsored by Volac.
The awards aim to demonstrate and test the students' knowledge of the importance of proactive farm health management – a vital element of the new Agriculture Act.
The competition is split into three categories: students at agricultural colleges, agricultural universities and vet schools.
Rebekah Patterson from Bristol University, Louise Harrison from Duchy College and Marley Lamerton from Harper Adams University won the vet, agricultural college and agricultural universities categories, respectively.
The runner-up for the college category was Holly Bonner from Bridgwater and Taunton) and for the veterinary category, Tom Ashworth from Liverpool University.
Each candidate had to submit a 1,500-word essay on proactive farm health management, with each category winner taking home a £500 cash prize.
Commenting on the winners, competition judge, RABDF Council Member and Gelli Aur College Farm Manager, John Owen, said: "The agricultural colleges' submissions continue to impress us with excellent entries, and this year was no exception. Louise showed that she was very proactive and hands-on in her understanding of the issues and she demonstrated her knowledge with very good examples.
"The standard of the vet entries was also very high and the result was very close. Rebekah's entry was exceptional, with fantastic examples of personal experiences that show real practical application.
"Marley Lamerton was a worthy winner, understood the topic, and appreciated the industry's challenges."
The awards and presentation took place on the Volac stand at Dairy-Tech on Thursday 7 April 2022.