Visiting Professor receives crop production honour

Posted 4 November 2011

Harper Adams visiting professor Dick Godwin had been recognised for his outstanding contribution to environmentally-sound crop production.

Professor Godwin FREng received the BCPC Medal, the British Crop Production Council’s highest accolade, from the council’s chairman Dr Colin Ruscoe on the first day of this year’s CropWorld Global conference.

On receiving his award, Prof Godwin said: “It is a great honour for a soil and water engineer to be recognised by the BCPC for the contribution that I have tried to make to crop production in the UK over the past four decades and I would like to thank the Council very much for the Award.

“Whilst good soil and water management has always been vital to both crop productivity and the environment, it has been overlooked in recent years. Thankfully, its importance is now being recognized as the demand for improved crop yields and quality, improved water efficiency and reduced energy consumption all impact upon the budgets of the farmer, the consumer and government.”

An internationally-recognized and multi award-winning researcher and educator in the field of agricultural soil mechanics, soil and waste management and precision agriculture, Professor Godwin holds Professorships in agricultural engineering from Harper Adams University College, Cranfield University and the Czech University of Life Sciences.

Dick has refereed over 100 journal publications, 130 conference proceedings, and delivered numerous Keynote presentations and patents for soil implements and soil strength sensing systems. He served as International Director of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (1992-94) and President of IAgrE (1994-96).

He is a Fellow of ASAE, the Royal Academy of Engineering, theIAgrE, the Royal Agricultural Societies (2009) and the Royal Agricultural Society of England.  He is Editor of a number of international journal publications, Chairman of the Douglas Bomford Trust, founding Trustee for the Claas Foundation in Germany and a member of the Advisory Committee to the Faculty of Agriculture of theRoyal College of Agriculture.

Receiving BCPC Medals alongside Professor Godwin were William (Bill) J. Angus, Dr Peter J.W. Lutman and Dr John Fisher.