Your Surrey county NFU update

Josh Redford

Josh Redford

East Sussex and West Sussex County Adviser and Surrey County Adviser

We’re now in show season, a time for members to take stock ahead of, and during, a busy summer of on farm activity.

In Surrey, the NFU will have a stand at the South of England Show on the 5-7 June and will be supporting the Cowpie Country Show on the 14 June and the Cranleigh Farm and Food Festival on the 2 August.

For the South of England Show, the Friday of the show will be busy with MP roundtable meetings, member meetings, and the opportunity for members to talk to head office staff on specific issues, such as ELMs and SFI.

We’re also looking forward to hosting two pre-harvest health and safety events in the area, with the first event near Rye in East Sussex on the 11 June and the second event near Petworth in West Sussex on the 18 June.

Locally, the Surrey West branch is hosting a meeting on the 9 June, where Countryside Access Officer John Baker will be updating members and answering questions on all things access. All members are welcome to join.

On our stakeholder engagement work, we’re looking forward to welcoming Chris Coghlan MP out on farm, providing a chance to discuss national issues but also local concerns around water quality and potential future regulation.

Beyond this, the NFU will be meeting with the fire service to discuss closer working ahead of harvest and we look forward to joining the Surrey Hills National Landscape Partnership Board to ensure farming is a key part of the agenda.

Please do reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions about upcoming meetings or our stakeholder engagement in the county.

Event

Focus on access at Surrey West branch meeting

Come to this meeting to hear from John Baker, the countryside access officer for SCC (Surrey County Council).

John and the team at SCC cover all aspects connected with public rights of way. Most farms have rights of way across them, and while some farmers know who to contact for advice and help, many do not or the contact is made when something has gone wrong.

SCC would like to reduce these instances and have more farmers and landowners contact it when they have problems with rights of way. The council can also help with rights of way signage, advice regarding diversions, gates and stiles and anything else to do with our rights of way network.

John is coming along to the NFU Mutual Godalming office to introduce himself, explain fully what the council can do to help and answer any questions. We hope you can join us.

Start date

09 June 2026 at 6:30pm

End date

09 June 2026 at 9:30pm

Location

NFU Mutual Godalming Office, Amberley Farm Barn, Amberley Lane, Milford, GU8 5EB

Local news

Surrey LNRS goes live

Surrey’s LNRS (Local Nature Recovery Strategy) has been published. 

The strategy identifies priority areas for enhancing nature and delivering wider environmental benefits across the county.

Each LNRS has undergone a consultation period, during which the NFU provided members’ views to help ensure the final strategy recognises the important role agriculture plays in both food production and environmental delivery. 

A formal launch event is expected later this spring. 

View the strategy