Out of the finalists, a winner is chosen by judges from Stewardship Oxford and the Oxford Soil & Crop Improvement Association.
The winner of the Oxford County Stewardship Award is announced before County Council with the winner receiving a prize of local significance, in keeping with the theme of celebrating and supporting local achievement.
The Oxford Stewardship Award was established in 2009. It builds on the legacy of the former Landsaver Award, which was granted between 1982 and 2003 to recognize outstanding contributions by the farming community toward the conservation of land, water and air.
The development of a stewardship award to acknowledge the role rural landowners play in preserving natural heritage was one of the recommended actions in the Oxford Natural Heritage Study.