Dr. Belinda Clarke OBE, Director of Agri-TechE, has been named as the 2026 winner of the Caroline Drummond Award – Celebrating and Communicating Farming Excellence – which the Guild helps to coordinate.
Belinda has been recognised for more than 20 years of promoting on-farm science and technology that improves the way food is produced and protects the environment. A passion that she shared with Caroline Drummond MBE, the founding Chief Executive of LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) in whose memory the award was established.
Belinda was presented with the award at the Society of Agriculture conference in London on the 5th November by Caroline’s husband Philip Ward. The award is supported by the society, the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists and LEAF.
Presenting the award, Philip said:
“Belinda Clarke is a very worthy recipient of The Caroline Drummond Award because of the many years she has spent successfully working in the areas of food, agricultural environment, communication and the efficient use of resources. She has been deeply involved in food production innovation, just what the industry and the world need. Caroline would have been overjoyed with this outcome.”
Belinda said:
“The joy at winning this lovely award is of course tinged with the huge sadness that I’d love to be enjoying a celebratory drink with Caroline herself, rather than receiving an award in memory of her life and remembering her extraordinary contribution.
“Communicating and celebrating the excellence in our industry provide important bright spots in what is a very challenging time for the sector. I wish Caroline was here to be able to see her vision of environmental management and farming go hand-in-hand to be part of today’s farming policy.”
Speaking on behalf of the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists, award co-ordinator Cedric Porter said: “We had another strong set of entries for this year’s Caroline Drummond award from across the farming industry, but Belinda’s stood out for her continuing commitment to improving the way people farm and for conveying that to a wide audience with passion and enthusiasm.”
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