The winner of this year’s Farm Sprayer Operator of the Year (FSOOTY) award will be crowned in the Syngenta Sprays and Sprayers arena at Cereals.
The award recognises the professionalism of sprayer operators across UK farms. It will be presented on the first day of the event, says Iain Lindsay, application specialist at Syngenta, which sponsors the long-running competition.
Skill and expertise
“Past winners have demonstrated their skills and expertise in every area of crop spraying – from the initial agronomy decisions through to the storage and handling of products – and to the final point of accurate and, above all, safe application.”
All finalists win a trip for two to Cereals 2024 and will be presented with their awards at the event.
The overall FSOOTY winner will also win a place on a study tour to the Agritechnica European farm machinery showcase event in Hanover, Germany.
NFU president and Essex farmer Tom Bradshaw, says the competition is a great way to show how operators maximise efficacy and look after the environment.
“It’s critical that we demonstrate professionalism right through our industry.”
Better results
Last year’s winner Mark Jelley has been operating sprayers for 45 years. He uses a Chafer Interceptor self-propelled sprayer across 1500ha of combinable crops on the farm’s own land, plus an additional 500ha of contract farming.
Judges praised Mr Jelley’s approach to progressing the skills of his fellow operators on the farm. This includes sharing information and best practice to ensure they all work in the same way, which leads to consistently better results.
“Entering FSOOTY is a good way to measure and further your knowledge, and to keep on learning,” said Mr Jelley, who undertakes frequent work-based training and shares his findings with colleagues.
