ORGANISERS of a national competition found a novel way of "visiting" farms when foot-and-mouth ruled out personal calls.

Finalists were each sent a camera and asked to take pictures of their enterprise and operations. Judges then held long interviews over the telephone before selecting the winners.

Last week the awards were presented at a special luncheon at Middlesbrough FC's Cellnet stadium.

The 2001 Nitram award for best fertiliser practice is run jointly by Teesside-based Terra Nitrogen UK and the Farmers Weekly magazine.

Mr Charlie McCririck of Sprouston, near Kelso, won the national title and a trophy and a £2,000 cheque.

The runner-up and livestock section winners were dairy farmers Mr Ralph Gott and his wife, Anne, of Eldersfield, near the Malvern Hills in Gloucestershire.

The judges were particularly impressed by Mr McCririck's dedication to individual field soil sampling to determine crop requirements accurately.

He farms the 584 acre enterprise with his brother, Johnny, and concentrates on premium crops, the chief of which are milling wheat, milling oats and malting barley.

Oilseed rape, triticale, peas and potatoes make up the rotation and 40 hectares of grassland supports a 50-cow beef enterprise and progeny, plus over-wintered sheep.

A good understanding of soil nutrient levels allows manure to be used to even up the status of individual fields, laying a platform for the efficient use of inorganic fertilisers.

A pneumatic spreader is used to ensure the best levels of accuracy, while different fertilisers used are checked on a test rig to fine-tune machine calibrations before spreading.

Mr and Mrs Gott farm with their son, Christopher, and received a trophy and a £500 cheque.

The 170-acre farm supports 170 milking cows and 45 followers. The commercial Friesian herd averages 7,160 litres, with concentrate use restricted to 1.4 tonnes per cow.

The judges acknowledged their success on very heavy land in the Severn Valley and noted in particular how good use of slurry and manure, and responsible and accurate fertiliser applications, allowed high stocking in difficult conditions.

Mr Richard Martin, Terra Nitrogen's market development manager, described the farm's output as outstanding, given the difficult conditions and limited acreage.

"Great efficiency is essential in order to achieve such results, but it is especially impressive how care is taken to avoid any negative impact on the environment," he said.

Mr and Mrs Gott and Mr McCririck enjoyed a tour of the stadium before the presentation, followed by a visit to the Terra Nitrogen UK plant at Portrack, which included a lift ride to the top of the 165-metre high fertiliser production tower.

The fertiliser is now all packed in big bags but the visitors were surprised to find the bagging was done manually by two men per shift.

The plant operates round the clock, 365 days a year, and has a gas bill totalling £80m a year.

Although Terra is one of the largest fertiliser manufacturers in the country the Teesside plant also has a much broader industrial base, including being the nation's main supplier of bubbles in fizzy drinks through its production of carbon dioxide. It also pipes and sells steam to other businesses on Teesside and produces nitric acid and sodium nitrate.

The other finalists in the 2001 Nitram Awards were Richard and Dawn Corlett of Latham Park, Ormskirk, and Mr John Wortley of Thetford, Norfolk.

The Corletts run a 220 cow dairy herd on 274 acres. They were shortlisted for their best use of slurry and manure to minimise input costs. They regularly N-test plants to assess requirements.

Mr Wortley has a 130-acre sugar beet and mixed cropping enterprise. He tailors nutrients to crop requirements across a wide range of soil types