John Seed: Farmers Weekly Green Energy Farmer of the Year 2013

The Haney Energy Saving Group - It's not just his passion, enthusiasm and determination to make family farms more resilient through the use of renewable technology that made John Seed win this award.

Haney Energy Saving Group - It's not just his passion, enthusiasm and determination to make family farms more resilient through the use of renewable technology that made John Seed win this award.

The judges were wowed by his original approach to energy use and ability to turn an expensive, energy-consuming process on his 204ha arable farm into an innovative, money-saving solution, already being replicated by other farmers across the country.

He is certainly on track to meet his goal of making his Scottish Borders farming enterprise a "prime example of an energy-efficient farm".

After years working away from agriculture in the biomass industry, John returned to his family farm in 2008, and has since turned a business that was previously "hemorrhaging cash" into a profitable enterprise. Turnover for the 2012-13 financial years was about £200,000, with £40,000 profit.

"Renewables has changed the nature of my farming business," says John, who runs the farm in partnership with his wife Louise and son Donald. "If we had carried on the way we were, we were just going to be going hand to mouth."

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