The Food Farm at Wyong Creek has been named one of six finalists for the Royal Agricultural Society’s (RAS) President’s Medal and welcomed the judges for a site inspection on February 12.
Judges Simon Marnie and Deputy Director General, NSW DPI – Agriculture Kate Lorimer-Ward will be visiting all six finalists during February, with the winner to be announced during the Royal Easter Show on March 27.
As one of the RAS’s most prestigious awards, the annual President’s Medal is the only competition in Australia that can judge a pork producer against a dairy or even a beer producer.
It looks at a business’s viability by exploring its economic, environmental and community impact.
All finalists have already demonstrated they are delivering world-class products, having won a champion medal in the 2023 Sydney Royal Fine Food/Wine/Beer/Dairy Show, and now they are aiming to demonstrate why they are leaders in the Australian food and beverage industry.
Hannah Greenshields and Tim Eyes from The Food Farm are first-generation farmers and are taking farming to the next level by growing, butchering and supplying Australia’s best pasture-raised chicken, beef and eggs direct to consumers every week without owning a single patch of dirt.
They deliver fresh produce from a string of leased farms.
As a finalist for the 17th Annual President’s Medal Award, The Food Farm will demonstrate how it is an industry leader within agriculture and delivering an innovative business model via economic, environmental and community processes.
The other finalists are South Australia’s Gumshire Pork, Victoria’s Meredith Dairy, NSW’s Mountain Culture Beer Co and Pecora Dairy and Queensland’s Stockyard Beef.
Judge Simon Marnie said he was impressed by the quality of this year’s entrants.
“The President’s Medal Award is a one-of-a-kind award in our food and beverage industry that explores a business’ innovative practices and overall viability,” he said.
“These businesses are not only delivering world-class products, but they are leading the charge when it comes to sustainable and community minded practices which, in turn, are making their business more commercially viable.
“It is truly a fascinating process and I congratulate our six finalists on getting this far and can’t wait to get out to their properties to see the work they are doing first-hand.”