Richard Abell, from little Cowarne, and Steve Gladwin, from Kilpeck, are among the seven finalists in the Farmers Guardian Dairy Farmer of the Future competition.

The three finalists will be selected by readers, who will then be visited by a panel of judges to pick the winner.

Richard Abell, a member of the Wyegraze Discussion Group, converted his farm to organic production in 2001.

He has a milking herd of 84 cows on the 185-acre White House farm. Richard is very keen on making the best use of grazed grass, which is at the heart of his system. He puts great emphasis on the importance of being able to extend grazing season and stresses the importance of having good tracks to give access to the grass fields, which are strip-grazed to make the optimum use of the grass.

Steve Gladwin runs 140 Holstein cows on his 250-acre Mill Farm at Marlas.

Steve says he needs a simple system and is adamant that he needs to be able to control costs. The herd has been expanded over the last three years from 80 to 140 cows and is now housed throughout the year. He believes that by housing the cows, grassland production has increased.

The farm is in the Entry Level Stewardship Scheme as Steve believes environmental schemes will play an important role in the future of farming.