A STUDENT from Askham Bryan College made it on to the shortlist of four for a national dairy student of the year award.

Jonathan Adamson, an HND agriculture student from Nawton, near Helmsley, received a £50 cash prize and memento in the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers/Barclays award, along with the other runners-up.

Mr Adamson gained his national diploma in agriculture in 2002 and has already gained a wealth of practical experience, including a ten-month placement on a Canadian farm in North British Columbia which had a 70-cow Holstein herd and 100-cow beef herd.

At home, he has worked on harvesting and cultivations and as an assistant with Amalgamated Agricultural Contractors.

The overall winner was Edward Sutton, a final year BSc (hons) agriculture student from Harper Adams University College, whose work experience includes a 12-month placement with T and K Red River Dairy, Arizona, which has almost 5,000 cows, and with a 270-cow pedigree Holstein-Friesian herd in Cheshire. He received £500 from Barclays and the college received £500 towards a dairy educational project.

Judges interviewed entrants from 16 colleges for a hypothetical herd manager's position at Warwickshire College of Agriculture.

"We received a very strong field of finalists and were faced with the most difficult of decisions for years," said Richard Lole, Barclays' national agricultural policy manager.

"We are delighted to support the RABDF award which is a great demonstration of the high quality of young people wishing to enter the industry. Their enthusiasm and commitment is inspirational, and provides a reassuring snapshot of the future driving force of UK dairy farming."

Nick Everington, RABDF chief executive, said: "With the shortage of skilled labour on dairy farms, awards such as these are important in that they honour the best students, help encourage more young people to study dairy courses and generally raise the profile of people working in this sector."