Lapwing judges visit and talk

Judges from the Silver Lapwing Award, for farmers who support nature, visit the Isle of Man next week.

For the first time, the Island has a finalist in the prestigious competition - Ballagawne Farm, Colby, run by David and Rob Cooil.

The brothers won the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) Isle of Man Bronze Chough Award in 2022 and are now regional finalists in the UK FWAG-run Silver Lapwing Award.

The Silver Lapwing Award recognises farmers who go that extra mile to protect and enhance the countryside in which they farm, demonstrating how high-quality food production exists hand-in-hand with sound environmental management.

To win the award, a farm has to demonstrate a real commitment to species and habitat conservation and be able to show how they integrate their environmental management in their overall farm business.

David and Rob Cooil with their FWAG Isle of Man Bronze Chough Award

The UK overall winner will be announced in June at an open day of last year's winner, Welsh farmer Iwan Davies. He visited the Island as a guest speaker of FWAG Isle of Man in December 2023.

As part of their visit, judges Chris Butler, Martin Hole and Jim Egan will give a talk entitled 'Balancing commercial food production with support for wildlife and biodiversity.' They will also answer questions.

The talk takes place at Jacksons car showroom in Cooil Road, Douglas, at 7.30pm on Tuesday 14th May. The talk is open to anyone with an interest in the topic. If you wish to attend, email fwagiom@outlook.com as soon as possible.

The Island's participation in the Silver Lapwing Awards is run by Paul and Hilary Fletcher and supported by the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture and Jacksons.

You can read more about the competition and the judges/speakers here.