THE full celebrity cast list for our annual farming awards can at last be revealed.

It includes television celebrities, sports stars and well-known local personalities.

The awards ceremony is taking the form of a digital event this year because of Covid.

A special broadcast will be aired on the Hereford Times Facebook page on November 26.

To host the evening we have experienced broadcaster Adam Henson, the regular presenter on the BBC’s Countryfile farming programme and a farmer himself in the Cotswolds.

A special guest for the evening will be the current President of the National Farmers Union, Minette Batters, who will have a topical message for the region’s farmers which is especially relevant given the Brexit negotiations and discussions about food standards in the future.

Local guests include Bill Sewell, who runs the Bill’s Kitchens in Hereford and Ludlow and is a nationally respected food author.

And the local ‘flavour’ is increased by Mark Green & Sean Mason the two men behind the Two Farmers Crisps brand with their artisan snacks based on regional produce.

Throughout the broadcast other celebrities will be making appearances with special words of encouragement for the farmers and agricultural workers and business across the three counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire who have battled to overcome the challenges of Covid and kept the supermarkets of Britain stocked and the plates of British families full.

Making up the celebrity list is: Ben Fogle (English broadcaster, writer and adventurer); Michael Chakraverty (2019 Great British Bake Off Finalists); Stu Deeley (MasterChef: The Professionals 2019 winner ); Steven Carter-Bailey (Winner of the Great New Year’s Bake Off 2019 and Finalist in series 8 of The Great British Bake Off); Clive Mantle (English Actor); Arthur Smith (Comedian, Presenter, Actor, Writer); James Haskell (Former England, Lions, Northampton Saint and Wasps rugby union player); Rebecca Adlington (OBE Olympic swimmer); Shirley Ballas (Head judge on the BBC TV show, Strictly Come Dancing) and last, but not least, Sian Lloyd (Welsh television presenter and meteorologist.

The Sponsors of this year’s awards are: Belmont Farm & Equine Vets x 2; TH White Group, Avara Foods, Cupid Events, Duchy of Cornwall, Herefordshire & Ludlow College, Countryside Restoration Trust, MFG Solicitors, Western Power Distribution, Hereford College of Arts.

We are previewing the finalists in each category over the next few weeks in the awards section of our website: https://www.herefordtimes.com/awards/tcf/news/