Graduate wins both British Farming Awards and Farmers Weekly Ag Student of the Year prizes

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A graduate with a mission to drive innovation on the Shetland Islands is the British Farming Awards Agricultural Student of the Year 2026.

The award, announced last night, is the second in two weeks for Harper Adams University Agriculture graduate Emma Burgess,  named Farmers Weekly Agricultural Student of the Year at the start of the month.

Speaking this morning, Emma said: “I am very shocked and honoured to have won both awards - and to raise awareness of Highlands and Islands agriculture.

“Although I was the winner on the night, I want to pay a huge testament to the other worthy finalists - and a special mention to my coursemate Betty, who was also nominated for both awards and is a very inspiring and hard-working candidate!”

Emma, whose family farm is at Quendale, chose to study at Harper Adams because of the opportunities the University offered – and the chances these presented to gain new knowledge and transform the way the Shetland Islands are farmed.

She said: “I knew as a teenager that opportunity was quite limited at home – farming is hard, and if you want to stay in it now, you can’t just farm, you have to farm in a system.

“We didn’t have those resources at home, so I wanted to look further afield - so I left at 17 and did a lambing job in Northampton, with an offer for Harper.

“Obviously, it was very far away - and that system opened my eyes to how niche we were and that, actually, there was so much more to learn.”

During her time at the Harper Adams, she has seized every opportunity available to develop her skills, including taking up an industry placement on the other side of the globe in New Zealand.

The placement saw Emma working for a year at a high-performance cattle genetics firm and was made possible thanks to a Country Land and Business Association Charitable Trust Scholarship she secured through the University’s Development Trust.

Having graduated four weeks ago, Emma is now back farming on Shetland alongside her father, and now wants to create greater opportunities for young people entering agriculture on the islands.

She added: “We are quite niche in our dairy farming on Shetland because we take the milk straight from the cow and we have the whole process, up to the creamery and the bottling.

“Doing that has its challenges, and Harper has really helped, from learning about agriculture up until the food development side too – so it will be really good to be able to utilise my degree back home!”

Emma’s win is the second time in succession that a Harper Adams student has taken both the Farmers Weekly and British Farming Awards Agricultural Student of the Year titles.

Fellow graduate George Elliot secured both trophies last year.

Course Leader for Agriculture Louisa Dines paid tribute to Emma and her fellow nominees.

She said: “I am so proud of our three finalists for their motivation, dedication and perseverance – and, of course, to Emma for taking home the award.

“I thought that having a Harper student win both the Farmers Weekly Agriculture Student of the Year and the British Farming Awards Agriculture Student of the Year trophies was a one-off last year with George - but I should have known our students better!

“They are fantastic examples of Harper Agriculture students working hard both inside and outside of the classroom, and I look forward to seeing the positive contribution they make in the industry.”

At the same awards ceremony last night, Harper Adams  Veterinary Bioscience alumna Chloe Rodriguez was named Farm Adviser of the Year for her work as Animal Welfare Specialist at ventilation, weather protection and performance improvement company Galebreaker.