Francis has lived at Trevigue since the age of eight.
After gaining an HND in "Rural Resources and Their Management" at Seale-Hayne Agricultural College in Devon, he studied for a degree in Rural Enterprise and Land Management" at Harper Adams Agricultural College in Shropshire.

Work has included spells with the National Trust both as an assistant Warden and in the Land Agency department. His main love and interest is the farm at Trevigue and the varied wildlife that lives there.

Today he is involved with the practical farming and land management that takes place on this unique farm.

Francis has been awarded the South West NFU certificates for conserving farmland biodiversity in 2000 and 2001, in addition to the national award (2001) from the President of the NFU (Ben Gill) for his outstanding contribution to agriculture and wildlife.

The award sponsored by the Daily Telegraph has come to Cornwall for the first time and to the South West region for 
the second time.

Falling into six categories, the awards aim to recognise outstanding initiative and excellence by farmers nationwide.

For many years Francis Crocker has been managing clifftop grazing on the family farm at Trevigue, Crackington Haven near Bude Cornwall.

Trevigue is an 800 - acre extensively farmed family holding, part tenanted from the National Trust.

Conservation work has included cutting back on encroaching bracken and gorse creating conditions suitable for reintroducing the Large Blue Butterfly and the black-plumed, orange-billed Cornish Chough - often dubbed as the national symbol of Cornwall.

He has also re-introduced environmentally-friendly working practices on his farm to encourage dormice, badgers, deer, tawny owls and otters. Tourists can visit the wildlife information centre, which raises money to improve wildlife habits.

Trevigue was the first farm in country to become a venue for civil weddings.