Sandbach farmer runner up in British Grassland Society Farmer of the Year

James Witter of Wheelock Hall Farm near Sandbach was one of the runners-up for British Grassland Society Farmer of the Year 2025.

This accolade was announced at an Awards Evening held at The Celtic Royal Hotel, Caernarfon on 22 October, jointly hosted by BGS and Anglesey Grassland Society. The competition is supported by Germinal, Nufarm and Yara.

James, a member of Cheshire Grassland Society, is a third generation dairy farmer. Most of his 283 ha (693 acre) forage area is long-term leys, with some permanent pasture, short-term leys and around 40 ha (98 acres) for wholecrop silage. The majority of the 525 cows are Holstein Friesian, with ten Jerseys. Cows are split into two groups - spring and autumn calving. The average yield is 8509 litres with 46% from forage. Fat and protein contents are 4.12% and 3.39% respectively. Pre-mowing is utilised widely across the grazing platform. The aim is to make five cuts of silage annually with all work done in-house.

James Henderson of Seafields Farm, Kilkeel, County Down (Ulster Grassland Society) was named as the British Grassland Society Farmer of the Year 2025. Mike and Caroline Hawking of Highweek Farm, Beaworthy, Devon (Bude Grassland Society) were also named as runners-up along with James Witter.