Animal Health - There was a South East TB meeting held which concluded that a series of TB meetings should be held for members in the new year with partners AHDB and APHA. This was supported at the joint dairy and livestock meeting which was held the next week in London.
Ploughing Matches – Group Secretaries have been out at a number of matches this month including: Laughton and District ploughing match where Helen Kirby met with Leader of East Sussex Council, Cllr Andy Woolley. The event does fantastic work dedicating huge resource to their educational department and bringing local schools out to the event. Matthew Baker met members at the Petworth Ploughing Match and on Saturday 19th September the West Grinstead ploughing match hosted an expanded pitch for the NFU Back British Farming campaign as a public facing presence. Group Secretaries and members had a joint stand with FCN which won the “Best Trade Stand” award. The pitch had fantastic engagement with the public with a “shopping basket” interactive activity. We also had engagement with West Sussex County Council at the event meeting Yvonne Gravely, Cabinet Member, Economy and Skills.
Hurstpierpoint ploughing match Group Secretary, Annie Streeter and team member Lily Bush had a great day entertaining members on the NFU stand at Hurstpierpoint Ploughing Match. The day was held at Plumpton College with stunning views of the South Downs. Members enjoyed watching the competitive ploughing and displays in the ring.
MP’s - Earlier in the month we met Tom Rutland MP, Beccy Cooper MP and Worthing Borough Council on farm. These meetings highlighted issues including the IHT concerns and Brazilian beef situation to MPs who have predominantly urban constituencies. On Friday 2nd October Andrew Griffith MP hosted a round table with APHA colleagues which covered a broad range of topical issues including Bluetongue testing resource and import checks as well as SFI concerns. As the Shadow Chancellor, Andrew left the meeting and went onto the Conservative Party Conference to deliver a comprehensive speech on finance for the country.
Social media fame - County Chair Frans de Boer, with support from the CMG, created a video with a poem he had written for Back British Farming which has done exceptionally well and reached nearly 1,000,000 views. Watch it here.
President visit - Tom Bradshaw, NFU President, visited the county on Monday 5th October. He attended a dinner with members at Kinsbrook Vineyard to hear directly from them on their views and concerns. The feedback was positive from both Tom and members.
Branch meetings - As we move into November, branch meeting season has begun with members of the Chailey branch gathering this week for their “pie dinner” meeting. Frant and Mayfield meet next week at The George Inn, Frant, TN3 9DU at 8pm.
County AGM’s – The East Sussex AGM is on Tuesday 24th November at Montague Farm in the evening. The West Sussex AGM on Tuesday 24th November lunch time at Southlands Barn, please register online.