The National Sheep Association (NSA) is set present the George Hedley Memorial Award to Scottish sheep farmer Ian Duncan Miller at a special formal presentation at the Annual Regional Member’s Meeting (ARMM) of the NSA Scottish Region on January 19, 2023.
The event will take place at Glensaugh Research Farm, Fettercairn, Laurencekirk.
The NSA said Miller will receive the award “in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the UK sheep industry”.
NSA chief executive, Phil Stocker, said: “I’m delighted that this year’s award has gone to Ian.
“There was some really stiff competition from a number of other nominees, all of which would have made worthy winners, but there was a unanimous agreement that this year’s award should go to Ian for what is a lifetime’s effective work to further Britain’s sheep industry and this is just what the award is there to recgonise.
Interim chair of the NSA Scottish Region, Peter Myles, added: “I am delighted.
“Ian has put his redoubtable drive, vision and enthusiasm into not only the improvement of his own flock but also our national flock as a whole, utilising his talents and the many facets of his work over the years.
“Ian is a very worthy winner of this prestigious award.”
Ian Duncan Miller
The NSA said that Miller is an example of “one of the most exemplary leaders within the UK sheep industry today”.
“Through his support and early adoption of numerous programmes including performance recording in hill sheep, early co-operative breeding schemes and through his role as a highly valued adviser to researchers developing breeding indexes for UK hill sheep, he has been instrumental in the multifaceted progression of the sector,” the association said.
Miller has also held positions on industry boards and committees. He has been the director of Highland Glen Producers Ltd. since 1979.
Other roles he has held include:
- Director at Farm Assured Scotch Livestock (1989-1997);
- Director at Scottish Quality Beef and Lamb Association (1997-2000);
- Director at Quality Meat Scotland (2000-2002);
- Chair of the UK Fallen Stock CIC (2004-2012);
- Chair of the Moredun foundation (2012-2020).
Miller was made a Fellow of the Royal Agriculture Socities and a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2010.
Commenting on winning the award, Miller said: “It was a huge surprise as well as an enormous honour to be awarded the George Hedley Memorial Award.
“To think of all the folk who have been here before me is quite mind-blowing.
“I have been very fortunate to have had a number of interesting ‘jobs’ through my career, and throughout that time I have always been in my ‘day-job’, a farmer, and sheep are a big part of what I do.
“So I suppose I have seen things through that prism, and if as a result I have helped our fantastic industry along the way, that has been an immeasurable bonus.
“NSA does a great job in supporting and promoting our sector in the corridors of influence, so I am very supportive, and to be recognised in this way is very moving indeed.”
George Hedley Memorial Award
First presented more than 60 years ago, the NSA George Hedley award acknowledges outstanding individual contributions to the UK sheep sector.
It is given to honour the memory of George Hedley, a respected farmer who was involved with the NSA for many years. While in the position of NSA chairperson, Hedley was tragically killed in a car accident in January of 1960.
The award is typically seen as a lifetime achievement honour to a highly esteemed person within UK sheep farming who has made a sustained or momentous contribution.
The list includes, but is not limited to, influencers involved in sheep-focused research/development; provision of out-of-the ordinary services; industry promotion/profile raising; charity work; training/education; or facilitation of best practice.
Chief executive of the NSA, Phil Stocker, said: “The George Hedley award is a really prestigious recognition of outstanding contribution to the sheep industry in the UK.
“The long and very worthy list of individuals who have been recipients of this award in the past is testimony to the dedication of people within our sector.”
