FLINTSHIRE farmers have been praised after winning an award.

NFU Mutual has announced the winners of Wales’ Tidy Farm Awards.

John and Anna Booth of Rhual Diary near Mold claiming first place and a £1,000 cash prize.

Held to demonstrate the importance of a safe working environment, the competition attracted some quality entries from farmers keen to show they have done everything possible to make their farmyards safe for workers, family and the public.

The awards returned to Wales for the second time this year, after being launched successfully in 2019.

Farmers were able to nominate themselves, or local people could nominate a farm in their area.

Family members and friends can also make nominations.

Entries were shortlisted from eight submitted photographs showing how common farm hazards had been addressed to reduce the risk of an accident.

Last year, the judges visited shortlisted farms to assess their safety features first hand.

With Coronavirus restrictions preventing face-to-face judging this year, the last stage of the competition was assessed through virtual walk arounds sent in by finalists.

The award judges were Stephanie Berkeley of the Farm Safety Foundation, Gwyn Barlow, NFU Mutual Risk Management Services Regional Manager, Dan Killingbeck, Sales Consultant at NFU Mutual Risk Management Services Wales and Hedd Pugh, Rural Affairs Board Chairman for NFU Cymru.

The initiative was supported by NFU Cymru, NFU Mutual Risk Management Services Limited, the Wales Farm Safety Partnership and the Farm Safety Foundation, the charity set up by NFU Mutual to help farmers work safely.

Gwyn Barlow said: “I’d like to congratulate this year’s winners, who stood out in a pool of extremely high standard entries.

“While the judging could not go ahead face-to-face as planned, we were able to collect virtual walk-arounds from the farming families showing how safety had been addressed on their farms.

"This gave us a great opportunity to see those farms in practice and assess the safety features that had been put in place.

Stephanie Berkeley said: “The Farm Safety Foundation were delighted to, once again, be part of the judging panel in in this competition celebrating the best of our industry.

"Although judging the shortlist proved a bit of a challenge, by using FaceTime, videos and commentary we were able to get a clear indication of the measures farmers have taken to create a safe and tidy farm and the pride they have in their farming business.

"The standout winners were John and Anna Booth, Rhual Dairy, who had a busy working farm but had invested in excellent storage, signage, biosecurity and some impressive handling facilities.

"Everything was well thought out from a business perspective and we need to reward the commitment that farmers like the booths make to safety, normalise good practice and celebrate all those taking time, effort and pride in their farms.”