FWAG Silver Lapwing Award and the Kerr Cup 2009 winners Patrick and Brian Barker of EJ Barker and Son will this year be hosting the Ashton KCJ Suffolk FWAG farm walks at each of their farm holdings – Lodge Farm on the 16th June and Kiln Farm on 23rd June. Both walks start at 6.30pm. The first event will be a tour of the farm via tractor and trailer, while the second will primarily be a walk, with transport available for the elderly or disabled.

David Barker said “The family are delighted to host these farm walks, we have a very long association with Ashton KCJ, in fact Tom Ashton was with my father back in 1957 when he purchased the farm. With the Campaign for the Farm Environment we are keen to demonstrate practical ways farmers can enhance the wildlife value of their farms.”

Ashton KCJ solicitors sponsor these highly popular farm walks and Jeanette Dennis, a solicitor from the firm’s agricultural department commented, “Being new to Ashton KCJ I am looking forward to taking part in these walks and meeting FWAG members. The Barker family did an exceptional job in winning the national Silver Lapwing Award, and this will be an excellent opportunity for people to see their farming conservation approach first hand.”

“Working in agriculture is always a challenge, and the pressure to increase yields and financial returns is ever present” she continued, “It is therefore extremely rewarding to witness the concern that FWAG members show for recognising the need to combine conservation with profitability.”

This year Jeanette will be assisting the judges as they visit this years entrants of the FWAG Suffolk Cup competition. Jeanette, who is the newest member of the Ashton KCJ agricultural team, is based in Bury St Edmunds and has over 20 year’s experience in East Anglia. She has a wealth of first hand farming experience which enables her to not only empathise with farmers but also to get them through the legal minefield and ever increasing regulations imposed on their industry.