Vice president race - Richard Hirst

Age: 48

Farm: Norfolk, 350 ha. Suckler herd, cereals, sugar beet, potatoes, peas, salads and an HLS/ELS scheme. A livery yard and maize maze are diversification projects.

NFU positions held:Former NFU horticulture and potatoes board chairman. Sat on policy board. Branch chairman, county chairman, regional commodity board chairman and now Norfolk council delegate

Other Relevant Positions:Chairman Anglian Pea Growers, director Anglia Farmers, G’s Growers and Fleggmart. Chairman Clan Trust and Norfolk Framers Trust (Norfolk rural Charities), Nuffield Scholar.

MainInterests Outside farming: Norwich City Season ticket holder, rural sports , tennis and skiing.

Tell us something surprising about yourself: Biked from Norwich to Bournemouth in   2.5 days to raise money for the Big C Appeal.

Who is your hero?Delia Smith

Why are you the best person for the job?

As chairman of the NFU Board for Horticulture and Potatoes, I sat on the NFU Policy Board so I have full experience of dealing with cross sector issues and understanding how the organisation arrives at agreed positions on difficult policies. I was also involved in lobbying work with Government, regulatory bodies, supermarket and members.

My external roles with APG, AF and G’s have given me a full range of experiences of dealing with issues throughout the food chain.

What would you change within the NFU to improve it?

At present with increasing membership and income it is difficult to be critical of the organisation.

However there is the issue of how we maintain the existing structure of branches, counties, regions and HQ. The flow of information along the chain has to improve in all directions to ensure that members feel connected.

Induction and training of chairman and those that hold office to ensure professionalism is to the fore. Perceptions of our relationships with regulators government and supermarkets need clarifying but we have to ensure that we remain connected and involved in the decision making process.

What farming issue(s) would be your priority? 

Reinstate the balance between productive farming and the environment.

Work to create a market that allows returns on capital invested to be similar to our customers.

Tackle head on the absurdity of government policy on TB and following on from this the ideas on Cost Sharing and Responsibility.

Rebuild trust in our industry in the hope of reducing burdensome red tape.

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