NORTH Yorkshire farmer Andrew Gloag has been named Arable Farmer of the Year.

He received the accolade at the 2009 Farmers Weekly Awards, held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

Mr Gloag took over the family business at Busby House, Stokesley, in 1984 aged 21 following the death of his father.

There were then only 89 hectares of arable – today he crops 1,850 hectares under a number of contract-farming arrangements with 12 farmer “partners”.

More than half have been set up in the past five years, reflecting the economic diffic u l - ties faced by many smaller farms.

Mr Gloag said: “We aim to provide a profitable way forward for smaller farms which perhaps cannot do it in their own right.”

Two years ago he set up a joint venture offering a contract spraying and spreading service.

The scale of the business means he can invest in modern machines and technology that smaller farms cannot afford.

Winter wheat and oilseed rape make up 60 per cent of the cropped area, with winter barley and spring beans the other main crops.

Mr Gloag says rising rainfall in the area is a growing challenge.

He has recorded it increasing 5in a year this decade – totalling 38in last year.

He consults Mark Ward, his right-hand man, and Nigel Foster, of Phoenix Agronomy, about crop variety choices and inputs.

Despite recent high fertiliser prices, his phosphate and potash policy is to maintain indices on all the land.

Three main grain stores are used and drying costs – £12.40/t last season – are averaged over all the farms to avoid potential disputes.

Mr Gloag markets all the grain himself.

He has developed good relationships with local feed mills and uses national merchant pools for 25 to 30 per cent of the output.

“Last year’s wheat average after all deductions and claims was £121.59/t,” he said.

The judges praised Mr Gloag, who has six full-time employees and a secretary.

They said: “Andrew identified the local market for contract services and developed a cost-conscious business to deliver a quality and timely service.”