Carter Jonas rewards students for stewardship scheme projects

Posted 23 May 2017

Three Rural Enterprise and Land Management (REALM) students are celebrating after being awarded prizes in a competition sponsored by Carter Jonas.

Emma Savage and James Scull were awarded joint first place and Mark Johnson was a close runner-up in the annual competition which is run in line with the students’ second year agriculture and the environment module.

They were asked to recommend options for a Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) application focussed on the Harper Adams University farm. They had to identify suitable environmental objectives for the farm, recommend a package of CSS options, and justify their recommendations by building a case from underlying scientific studies that illustrated how the selected package would result in positive outcomes.

The winning students were complemented on the quality of the reports and particularly the strength of arguments presented to support their proposals.

Module leader Andrew Cherrill said: “Selecting the winning reports was difficult. There were a number of really high quality reports and selecting the winners was extremely difficult.

“I was really impressed with the way the students marshalled a range of evidence to back up their proposals with reference to CSS guidelines and an understanding of the ecological requirements of farmland birds, and land management for the protection of water and soil quality. This will put them in good stead as they begin their placement year.”

Certificates and cheques were presented to the winning students by Harry Torrance, Rural Partner at Carter Jonas, who said: “Carter Jonas is delighted to be working in partnership with Harper Adams, a leading university where many of our new graduates receive their training.

“Each entrant was tasked with producing a report on competitive bidding for funding to implement ecological strategies in a farm setting – a topic certain to emerge as a key factor in a post-Brexit Agricultural Policy. All of the submissions were of a very high quality, and we send our sincerest congratulations to the winners and thank all who entered for a very strong set of submissions.

“When they graduate, Carter Jonas anticipates the students will be entering a dynamic industry which will be increasingly influenced by a range of new innovations and policies, and professionals will need to be able to provide robust, up to date, accurate advice. We look forward to welcoming new members to our teams in the North West and West Midlands, who will provide fresh insight to the advice we are giving our clients preparing for these changes.”

Upon winning, Emma Savage, 20, from Diss, Norfolk, said: “I’m delighted to receive joint first for the Carter Jonas award. It was a wonderful surprise and I feel honoured to be chosen."

James Scull, 22, from Ledbury, Herefordshire, added: “I’m extremely grateful for this award, having come to Harper with no prior agricultural experience it shows the level of quality in the teaching and resources available to the students. I’d also like to thank Carter Jonas for taking the time to read our assignments and coming to present the award. I’ve found this module to be very interesting, and it will prove useful in my forthcoming placement at Chatsworth.”