“I’m totally taken aback, I never expected we’d win”: Peter Clifford from Frampton Court Estate has been awarded coveted National Farming and Conservation Award 2026
A family farm in Gloucestershire has been awarded the prestigious ‘Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group National Silver Lapwing Award’ from a shortlist of five exceptional finalists. Peter Clifford of Frampton Court Estate was chosen by the team of four judges for his focus on providing a wide range of habitats across the farm from species-rich ancient hay meadows to restoring ghost ponds.
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.
The award is generously sponsored by Frontier Agriculture, an industry leader in the provision of conservation, green cover and forage seed mixes, and Land App, a digital mapping platform empowering land managers to unlock the full potential of their land through tailored mapping technology, strategic partnerships, and collaborative solutions. The FWAG Association is very grateful to have the support of these organisations.
Judges Chris Butler, Rebecca Inman, Jim Egan and Martin Hole talked through the five finalists, highlighting the breadth of work being carried out across all the farms to support wildlife alongside their commercial farming activities. “It’s such a privilege to visit each of the finalists and see for ourselves what amazing work they are doing to integrate wildlife into their daily farming operations. Each farm was uniquely brilliant in how they had evolved to be resilient businesses whilst still making space for nature, and it just goes to show what can be achieved’” explained Martin.
Located on the banks of the River Severn in Gloucestershire, Frampton Court Estate has long worked to balance productive farming, conservation and recreation within a thriving village community. The estate covers a diverse range of land uses and habitats including 408 acres of arable rotation, 120 acres of species-rich grassland, 90 acres of woodland and 100 acres managed for creation of wood pasture, alongside 100 acres of lakes.
Photo: Left – Chris Butler, Chair of the FWAG Association and judge. Centre Peter Clifford, right Ed Spencer.
Peter Clifford, Winner of the Silver Lapwing Award 2026:
“For the last three years we’ve been working with neighbouring dairy farmer Ed Spencer. He’s been key to the transition we’ve made from an intensive arable system to fully extensive. We teamed up to focus on soil health and profitability in the arable rotation through minimal soil disturbance and maximising available muck and slurry from his farm”. Collecting the trophy alongside Peter, Ed added “ these awards are great, it’s fantastic to have some positivity in farming and we’re delighted to have won”.
The celebration for the 47th Silver Lapwing Award took place on Tuesday 23rd June at Finches Farm in Hertfordshire, the home of Andrew Bott and his family, who received the award in 2025. Andrew is a long-standing member of FWAG East and a previous winner of their annual Conservation Award.
Following the awards presentation and lunch, guests were taken on a tractor and trailer tour of the farm. The 80 guests learnt about Andrew’s management of chalk grassland field margins teeming with insects, the restoration of 15 ponds across the farm which are all now home to Great Crested Newt and the home -made Johnson-Sue bioreactor used to create the farms own biology. John Place, Head of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier at Defra commented on the diversity of farms amongst this year’s finalists. “It’s great to see such amazing farms delivering for both the environment and food production and these awards just highlight what’s possible”.
