BALE Award Winners

Posted 30/10/2014

Pictured: Sally and Angus Scobie with Jonathan Long (centre)

Around 250 guests gathered at Trinity Park in Ipswich recently for the Suffolk Agricultural Association’s (SAA) agricultural awards dinner.  Among them was Jonathan Long, Partner and Head of Agriculture at Ashtons Legal who sponsor the Best Alternative Land Enterprise (BALE) Award.  The BALE Award competition was started more than 20 years ago and in that time Jonathan has seen and judged the best part of 200 entries.  

Jonathan says: “It doesn’t get any easier. All the entries this year had considerable merit and I would encourage any that were not prize-winners to keep working at their enterprises and enter again another year. Judging between entries involved lengthy discussion and looking at some fine details in the rules. It is a great pleasure for Ashtons Legal to have started this competition and to continue to be so closely involved in such a successful and inspirational event.”

The 2014 BALE winners were fruit and flower farmers EE Ulph & Co of Whites Farm, Colchester who bowled over the judges after branching into a nursery school, retail outlet, fencing company and contract hire swimming pool.  The original enterprise consisting of apple and pear trees with four acres of peonies enterprises was started by Angus Scobie’s grandfather in 1937, and is now run by Angus and Sally Scobie.

Among the panel of judges for the BALE awards were association president Clare, the Countess of Euston, and last year’s BALE winner Katharine Salisbury of Suffolk Farmhouse Cheeses.

For the first time in the award’s history, the impressive standard of entries meant there were two joint runners up – Robert and Sally Bendall for Hollow Trees Farm, and its year round programme of entertainment and education, and Nathan Nobbs for Potsford Care Farm.

Additional winners were Stowlangtoft Healthcare who won the Best Newcomer Award.