BOFIN’s Clemmie Gleeson wins Mike Evans Award for PR Communications

Clemmie Gleeson of the British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN) has been named as the winner of this year’s Mike Evans Award for PR Communications, which recognises outstanding public relations achievement in the agricultural sector.

Sponsored by specialist agricultural PR agency Oxtale, the winning entry promoted SLIMERS, a Defra-funded research project which has developed slug prediction maps allowing arable farmers to target slug hotspots rather than treat whole fields, cutting pellet use by an average of 50% and generating an estimated £6 million saving for UK growers.

Farmers Weekly editor Andrew Meredith judged the award with Ben Pike from agricultural PR and marketing agency, Eve Communications.

Andrew said that while this year’s award attracted several genuine contenders, Clemmie’s entry stood apart for its angle, which drew strong interest from across all the major agricultural titles as well as high-value mainstream press, successfully meeting the project’s communications objectives.

“Clemmie’s piece demonstrated clear relevance, newsworthiness, and timeliness, unlocking excellent coverage in the agricultural media, while also drawing attention from the mainstream press,” Andrew said.

“There was a high calibre of entries which made judging tough, but Clemmie had the edge by scoring well against every criterion.”

The judges also recognised strong submissions from Sarah Alderton of ABC for her piece on a new vaccine for calves, the NFU Mutual’s Hannah Binns for her campaign on the impact of farm fires, and Jenni Green from Agri-hub for a press release on how AI is improving yield forecasting.

The BGAJ Mike Evans Award for PR Communications is presented annually in memory of Mike Evans, a leading agricultural communications consultant throughout the 80s, 90s and beyond.

A first prize of £250 is provided to the winner, presented at the Guild’s Harvest Lunch in London.