Adrian Cox at Butterwell Farm, Chilton Polden, Somerset recently won the Tesco Sustainability Dairy Group (TSDG) farmer of the year award. Adrian, aged 37, was selected from more than 700 farmers in the UK that have milk contracts with Tesco. He was presented with the award at the TSDG conference in Birmingham to his great surprise.

Adrian says he went to the awards ceremony knowing he was in the top four but never expected to win. The awards are based on a points system that take into account a wide range of factors related to the health and welfare of the herd. These include quality, innovation, value, service, cleanliness, antibiotic use, carbon footprint, holding school visits and environmental schemes. The 420 acre farm on the Somerset Levels was bought by Adrian's grandfather 50 years ago and is now run by Adrian, his wife Jenny and his mother Jeanette and dad Stephen. They have 160 dairy cows. Adrian and his wife attended the awards (his parents weren't able to attend, as someone had to stay behind and do the milking).

Adrian said: "I was genuinely shocked when I found out we'd won. For such a small farm to win as ours was a big surprise. I know last year the winning farm had around 2,000 cows and was on a much bigger scale.

"You see farms like that and you worry you are being left behind but we do the best we can with what we've got".