Ballagawne Farm in Colby is in the running for the national ‘farming for nature’ award.
Run by David and Rob Cooil, the farm is regional finalist in the Silver Lapwing Award, having won the local FWAG Isle of Man Bronze Chough.
Judges will visit the farm next week, and also give a talk, ‘Balancing commercial food production with support for wildlife and biodiversity.’
National award
This is the first time the Island has a finalist in the competition
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.
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.
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