The owner of a West Sussex farm shop renowned for its food festivals has bagged a major industry award.

Stuart Beare, of Tulley's Farm, has been named Farm Retailer of The Year in the South-East regional heats of the NFU Farming Excellence Awards 2004.

The award recognises individual farmers or growers who have helped to promote their industry to the wider public.

Stuart, who took over the farm in Turners Hill from his parents, won £200 and now goes into a national final with the chance to win £1000.

Stuart has established a list of attractions - including a five-acre maze of maize and an American-style pumpkin festival - which draw half-a-million visitors each year.

Last year he opened a strawberry farm which combined the traditional activity of fruit picking with mini-tractor rides and sandpits for children.

An NFU South-East spokesman said: "Judges were very impressed by Stuart's high quality fresh produce and exceptionally well-presented farm shop.

"But what clearly shone through is Stuart's dedication to helping people understand the origins of their food."

Stuart, who studied commercial horticulture, opened Tulley's farm shop in 1992 as an outlet for the farm's surpluses.

It soon became renowned for its speciality fresh produce, including potatoes, rhubarb and asparagus.

Stuart, 34, said: "Our success comes down to the way we have mixed direct retail with entertainment.

"A few year ago we were selling 5,000 pumpkins a year. Now we are selling 25,000. That's because of the events we run around Hallowe'en like the Haunted Hayride and the Spook Hunt, which promote the produce."

The national winners of the NFU contest, dubbed the "Farming Oscars", will be announced at the NFU annual lunch in London on March 11.

In 2002, Tulley's was unanimously voted the winner of the first Farm Retail Association's Farm Retailer of the Year Award.

Stuart is also the first non-American farmer to pick up a North American Farmers' Direct Marketing Association award, which he won last week.

Thursday February 12, 2004