Tim is a top blogger!

Posted 22 October 2010

A fourth year Harper Adams student’s interest in sustainability has led him to win a prize for blog of the month on popular website, Farming Futures.

Tim Sedgewick, who is studying HND Business Management and Marketing at the University College in Shropshire, wrote about the production of Miscanthus briquettes and their potential as a fuel. This is a project that Tim was involved with during his placement year at HarveyHughes Independent Rural Consultants in Dunham Massey, Cheshire.

Even though this is the first time that Tim has been involved with blogging, Farming Futures were so impressed with his writing that they awarded him July blog of the month out of 15 contenders.

The 21-year-old from Bishop Auckland in County Durham, said: “I responded to an e-mail at Harper that said Farming Futures were looking for student bloggers for their website.

“I’ve always enjoyed writing and with sustainability being such a hot topic at the moment, I thought it would be good to write a series of pieces about that.

“With the Miscanthus piece, I wanted to keep it simple so that it was easy to understand and I was delighted when they said I had been chosen as the best blog.”

Tim’s ideas for future blogs include the use of wind turbines, anaerobic digestion and solar panels. He hopes that his new found flair for writing may lead to a job in journalism or pr.

He added: “I’ve just returned from my placement so I’ll be concentrating on my final year and dissertation, which is also on the uses of Miscanthus in the energy industry, but after that I’m going to keep my options open.

“I’m really interested in rural consultancy, but would also like to look at ways of entering the world of journalism too.”

A sample of Tim’s winning blog – “I’ve been involved with lots of projects on my placement, but one has stood out. We have a client who grows Miscanthus, a perennial grass that once established can last for up to 20 years without any inputs or treatment. He was persuaded to grow the crop on 65 acres by the new market from power stations, who were eager to use it for energy production due to its low emissions and the positive impact on their carbon credits.”

To see this in full, visit http://www.farmingfutures.org.uk/blog/miscanthus-biomass-briquettes-and-bbqs

The Farming Futures website helps businesses to prepare for the impacts of climate change and is a collaboration between the Agricultural Industries Confederation, the Agricultural and Horticultural Research Forum, the Country Land and Business Association, Defra, Forum for the Future, the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, Linking Environment and Farming and the National Farmers' Union.