Aspiring agricultural consultant named as 2021 John Langford prize recipient

Posted 22 November 2021

Harper Adams senior lecturer Simon Allen presents student Harry Parsons with his award certificate.

An aspiring agricultural consultant has been named this year’s recipient of the John Langford Prize at Harper Adams University.

Harry Parsons, a BSc (Hons) Agriculture with Farm Business Management student from Laxey, on the Isle of Man, was named the 2021 recipient of the prize, awarded for the best performance in the Skills for the Agricultural Professional module - for which he received the highest grade in the current academic year.

He said: “Honestly, my first reaction was shock! Although I was really happy with my result for the module, I certainly didn’t except to receive an award of any kind. I think overall I now feel incredibly grateful; I would never except a prize for doing well in a module, because doing well after putting a lot of work into a piece of work is enough of a reward in itself!

His prize success bodes well for Harry, whose ambition is to pursue a career in agricultural consultancy – a goal that drew him to his studies at Harper Adams in the first place.

“After looking at various courses from different universities, Harper’s Agriculture with Farm Business Management course lays the best foundations for the career in my opinion, with the course’s solid blend of more general agricultural principals, both practically and theoretically, and more specialised modules teaching more in-depth business management and analytical techniques,” he said.

“What drew me to Harper itself was firstly the on-site farm, providing easily accessible applications of the principals taught.

“As I further researched Harper however, the smaller class sizes, allowing a more personal relationship with the industry-tested lecturers, and the contacts I have in industry’s high praise for the university sealed the deal.”

Harry is now beginning to look forward to his placement year next year – with a keen eye on developing his skills in agribusiness.

He added: “My plan for placement year is to work in either agribusiness or the greater agricultural supply chain, however we are still in the process of applying for placements!

“I would love to work in the former as, as I have mentioned, I hope to be an agricultural consultant following my graduation, and so it would be great to get some real-world experience in the field.

“I love the idea of the latter, however, as I would love the opportunity to broaden my knowledge and explore different levels of the agri-food chain beyond the on-farm level that I already know.”