Three women described as 'exemplary ambassadors' for the British dairy sector have been selected as the finalists for the industry's 2021 Woman of the Year Award.
The award is now in its fourth year and has crowned the likes of Mary Quicke MBE and Karen Halton of Halton Farms.
Three finalists have been selected for this year’s Dairy Industry Woman of the Year Award, which is run by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF).
One of the finalists is Amy Eggleston, who says she is passionate about the dairy industry and educating others.
She opens the Leicestershire family farm up to schools and supermarkets and anyone in the wider public who wants to learn more about dairy farming.
She also participates in video calls with schools, speaking to a wide age range, from nursery aged pre-schoolers to sixth form children looking to start their career.
Having built up a huge following on social media (Instagram: thedairydaughter) she regularly uses this platform to promote the sector and give updates on her day-to-day farming life.
Poppy and Josie Lewis are sisters who are taking over the Pembrokeshire family farm from their parents. Milking 200 cows and rearing calves and cattle they show how resilience and teamwork contributes to business development.
The farm already runs an adventure park and has recently invested in a new parlour which includes a viewing gallery and information centre that is set to open to the public with the aim of educating people about agriculture and the dairy industry.
They also use their social media platform (Instagram: sistersinwellies) to educate their following on what farming entails.
And finally, from a non-farming background, Sophie Gregory is a mum of three children, who works on the family farm and spends any other free time educating the public about farming.
She is part of several focus groups, takes part in Farmer Time and her and her family have been featured in various Arla videos about farming. She also takes part in Open Farm Sunday doing live videos for their Facebook page.
Showing schools around the farm and explaining the logic behind everyday farming practices through her social media (Instagram: farmer_in_training) are just a couple of examples of her passion for the industry.
This year’s nominations have seen a lot of young dairy ambassadors nominated, according RABDF Women in Dairy organiser Emily Egan.
“It’s really great to see lots of young talent coming to the forefront of the nominations as they are the future of our industry.
“This year’s finalists all act as exemplary ambassadors for the sector, displaying strengths in areas that are vital to the future success of British dairy farming, which is going to make choosing a winner very difficult.”
The finalists will now face an interview with members of the advisory panel ahead of the award being presented at the Women in Dairy Conference, which is taking place virtually on 22 September.
