5 September 2022
NFU Community Farming Hero

Having grown up on my stepdad’s farm and previously worked as Parliamentary Officer for the NFU, I have always had a strong connection with our agricultural industries and the environment. Farming and all of its associated sectors play a key role in not only our Norfolk (and wider Eastern) economy, but also in the preservation and enhancement of our beautiful rural landscapes and way of life.

That’s why I have always strived to speak up for the sector, promote British standards and encourage a greener, cleaner, healthier society and model of life, and why I was delighted to nominate a local farmer for the NFU’s inaugural Community Farming Hero award this year.

The award has been established to celebrate the important (and often overlooked) role that local farmers play in their communities, and I was thrilled to make my nomination for Glenn Anderson at the Dillington Hall Estate up near Dereham.

Glenn is the driving force behind the incredible Wendling Beck Exemplar Project. Not only is it pioneering in its approach to habitat creation, nature restoration and regenerative farming (blazing a trail that I am sure countless more farmers will follow in years to come), the Project will have significant benefits for the local area, strengthening community and environmental resilience (including with regards to local flooding), as well as boosting the local tourism offer and educating so many people. This bold and innovation approach, and particularly the leadership Glenn has given, will help our region lead the way on the Road to Net Zero and enhance a key part of what makes our area such a wonderful place to live and work in too.

Glenn has also supported a variety of other local community projects too, including Gressenhall’s ‘Save Our Swan’ campaign.

I have written to Glenn to thank him for all he does for his local community, and Mid Norfolk more widely. I look forward to visiting him at Dillington Hall later this autumn to see the great work being done as part of the Wendling Beck Exemplar Project once more, and would like to thank all of our local farmers, so many of whom do so much for their nearby towns and villages.

To learn more about the NFU Community Farming Hero awards, please click here

To learn more about the Wendling Beck Exemplar Project, please click here

To stay up to date with all of my work on food, farming and the environment, please visit my campaign page here