Vice president race - Rosey Dunn

Age: 48 years

Farm location/type: 50ha farm, plus seasonal grazing near York. 185 head of fattening cattle, 30 suckler cows, 145 breeding ewes. Arable, and stubble to stubble contracts.

NFU positions held: Current York East county council rep, North East regional board chairman, governance board member. Previous county chair.

Main interests outside farming: My grown up family, our dogs and the vegetable garden.

Tell us something surprising about you: Just how gritty and determined I am!

Who is your hero? My late great uncle – who nurtured my interest in agriculture from an early age.

Why are you the best person for the job?

A committed NFU member since we began farming almost 25 years ago and latterly undertaking a more proactive role has given me a valuable insight into the workings of the organisation. 

I’ve always been willing to listen to, and never afraid to speak up on behalf of members. Working with the NFU I have represented farmers on a wide range of issues, actively lobbying everyone from the Secretary of State to civil servants, local and regional decision makers and retailers and raised the profile of farming via local print and broadcast media and face to face with members of the public. 

What would you change within the NFU to improve it?

I would like to look at the current structure in the regions to see if we can increase younger and grass root member participation.

Following regionalisation, we have seen the commodity boards rotate around the region instead of being regular county based meetings and this has not helped attendance and participation, or encouraged and identified future officeholder potentials. 

Also communicating the breadth and depth of work the NFU undertakes, its benefits to non members, and recruiting new members to build on the recent increased levels of membership will be paramount. Further emphasis is needed to maintain the current positive profile. 

What farming issues would be your priority?

The discussion on CAP post 2013, and TB and the Animal Health draft bill will undoubtedly be headline policy issues, but the environment, climate change and changes to upland management are all important issues that lie in the year ahead.

Farmer participation of Campaign for the Farmed Environment will be crucial to prevent regulation.

Reducing regulation that is disproportionate to the risk and a fair trade for British farmers are some of the things that farmers tell me they’d like to see, but ultimately a return to viability and profitability is what is they’d like to see most.

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