UNSUNG HEROINES: “We know that women are the backbone of our farming industries and that most family farms are parnerships farms run by men and women and we would love to see more women getting actively involved.” – new NFU president Minette Batters.
MAINTAINING STANDARDS: “We have very high standards in environmental safety and indeed, food safety, in the whole of the UK with our certified schemes like the Red Tractor and we want those to be a strategic priority in trade negotiations and to ensure that the food that we eat is continually produced to the high standards that we enjoy here in the UK.”
THE first ever head of the National Farmers Union has warned the industry that a bad Brexit deal could have serious ramifications for the regional countryside.
Minette Batters is former county chairman of Wiltshire and runs a mixed enterprise consisting of a 100-cow Continental cross suckler herd and a small herd of Pedigree Herefords along with sheep and arable.
She has also been involved in farm diversification projects, converting a tythe barn into a wedding and corporates event venue and horse liveries.
Prior to her appointment as the new president of the NFU, she has served as deputy president since 2014; been a national delegate for Wiltshire and co-founded the campaigning initiatives Ladies In Beef and ‘the Great British Beef Week’. She was sharing her thoughts in a Q and A session with The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.
For her, Mrs Batters says rearing calves was the catalyst for her to follow into the family business and seeing the changing of the seasons both in livestock and arable enterprises.
‘Calf rearing gave me a love for farming’
“I was brought up on a farm. I did all our calf rearing and that’s what instilled me a love of farming. It is definitely about the changing of the seasons, bringing new life into the world; crops growing and sometimes failing and seeing those fresh beginnings and what really standards is seeing calves and lambs born on the farm and that is always a brilliant time of year.
Mrs Batters wants more women to consider entering the industry and to find out more, they had to look within the industry and not just see what lies on the outside, and it would need them doing their own research.
‘Don’t judge industry by its book cover’
‘It is really important to get across that farming is an innovative, dynamic industry and just to look a bit deeper and engage with women who are working in the industry right now. It can often be perceived as male on the outside but it is an industry that has changed a huge amount and don’t judge the book by its cover, just get out and find out what it’s all about.
‘Women are the backbone of UK farming’
“We know that women are the backbone of our farming industries and that most family farms are partnerships farms run by men and women and we would love to see more women getting actively involved and for me personally in the NFU I would like to see more women involved in our democratic structure on our boards making the case for farming.
When questioned on the Brexit negotiations shortly before attending last year’s Suffolk Show, she has told the UK team to extol the existing standards local producers adhere to, such as the Little Red Tractor, and fight to maintain the status quo as a no deal would be disastrous for the region.
‘We must have free trade deal with EU’
“There are challenges and opportunities ahead for Brexit. Everything in the first instance will be shaped by the trade deals achieved so we are asking for a full free-trade deal with the European Union.
“It is absolutely essential for British agriculture and consumers alike, so we’ve been trading tax-free all these years – 40 per cent for our lambs; 75 per cent of our wheat and barley and 80 per cent of our dairy products all going into Europe.
‘Our brand must be strategic priority in talks’
“It is a trade deal that will actually shape the landscape for years to come. We have very high standards in environmental safety and indeed, food safety, in the whole of the UK with our certified schemes like the Red Tractor and we want those to be a strategic priority in trade negotiations and to ensure that the food that we eat is continually produced to the high standards that we enjoy here in the UK.
‘Bad deal would cripple industry and landscape’
“There are a lot of opportunities but the threat of a bad deal bringing potentially cheaper food grown to lower standards would have a seismic impact not just on our agricultural businesses but the landscape, as a whole.”
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