The Competition

The aim of the Competition is to find the region's best farming diversification businesses.  The Suffolk Agricultural Association, in partnership with Ashton Graham Solicitors, have been running this annual competition since 1992 and it is now regarded as the region's premier farming diversification competition.

The competition is open to farmers from Suffolk or adjoining counties - Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex - who can submit any alternative land enterprise they are running from buildings or land on their farm.  Entries will be judged for their creative, commercial and practical merits.  We welcome back previous entrants.

Entries for this year's Competition must be received by Friday 2 October 2009.

The judging will take place on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 October 2009 and the awards presentation will take place in November/December at either the winning enterprise or at Trinity Park.

Previous winners include:

• Park Farm Business Centre - obsolete agricultural buildings converted into high quality office space in landscaped grounds.

• Hollow Trees Farm Shop - which sells home grown vegetables, plants and meat.

• Farmhouse Cooking - a bakery run from redundant farm buildings.

• Mulberry Bush and Hill Farm Nurseries - children's nurseries.

• The Playbarn and Barn Club - a children's play venue and farm park, and children's pre and after school club.

• The Reid Rooms - stable buildings converted to conference rooms/wedding facilities.

• Wix Equestrian Centre & Valley Farm riding centre

• Wyken Vineyard

• Bruisyard Hall - renovated farm house converted to specialist holiday accommodation.

• Resting Pets Crematorium and Cemetery - cremations and burials for pets.

Other businesses entered include thatching straw, herb growers, rare meat suppliers and machinery builders. This list is by no means exhaustive and no business is too small to enter.

Publicity

The competition attracts great interest from the media and our entrants, particularly the winners, also receive considerable publicity. The competition is well supported in the East Anglian Daily Times, as well as other journals and farming magazines.