STUDENT Holly Bonner, who attends Bridgwater and Taunton College of University Centre Somerset, is among four finalists in this year’s British Farming Awards.

Holly, whose home is in North Devon, has been nominated in the 2024 Agricultural Student of the Year category.

Each finalist has been successfully progressing their learning and careers inside and outside of university.

Some have an agricultural background and others are new to the industry, but all of the students had to demonstrate impressive self-motivation, initiative, ability, and a commitment to agriculture outside of academic life.

The awards are in their 12th year and designed to shine a light on the best in British farming with the industry coming together to celebrate the achievements of its contemporaries.

Earlier this year, Holly won silver in the Farmers Club Pinnacle Award for excellence in business management, which she received from Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.

Her journey from a non-traditional educational path to pursuing a BSc (Hons) in agricultural management at university centre reflects a deep commitment to agriculture.

Holly initially chose a level three agricultural apprenticeship over A Levels, working on her family farm and gaining diverse experience in livestock sectors and event catering.

This hands on approach fuelled her passion for farming and laid a solid foundation for her studies.

During her degree, Holly demonstrated remarkable dedication and despite the challenges of balancing work and study, she excelled academically, with most of her grades consistently above 80 per cent.

Holly’s degree programme, which allows for part-time work, enabled her to continue contributing to her family’s multi-generational beef and sheep farm while also working in event catering.

She has also gained experience working with an independent farm business consultancy, learning about grant schemes and farm performance improvement.

Her role as treasurer of the local young farmers’ club also reflects her active engagement in the agricultural community.

Holly values her degree as her proudest accomplishment, symbolising three years of hard work, determination, and personal growth.

Her experience demonstrates how alternative educational routes can be just as effective, if not more so, in pursuing one’s passion.

Looking ahead, Holly is keen to continue gaining experience in agriculture and dreams of running her own farm in the future.

She is particularly interested in integrating public engagement to enhance industry openness.

For now, Holly aims to focus on consultancy, leveraging her skills in data and figures to support family farms.

Holly acknowledges the significant challenges facing agriculture, including climate change, soil degradation, and financial pressures, and advocates for increased knowledge sharing and stronger industry-academic partnerships to drive targeted research and practical solutions.

She believes in maximising workforce potential through innovative approaches such as tenancies and share farming, and emphasises the importance of open discussions among farmers to foster collaboration and improvement.

The awards final was taking place on Thursday (October 17) at The VOX, in Birmingham, an event which welcomes industry professionals from across the country to celebrate British agriculture and the successes it has had during this year.