Meet the NFU North Dairy Board

13 May 2026
Two dairy cows in a field

Your NFU North Dairy Board meets regularly throughout the year to discuss issues facing the sector. 

The board is chaired by Graham Young (Lancashire) with Neville Kitching (North Riding and Durham) as Vice-chair.

Cheshire County Adviser Helen Wainwright and North Riding and Durham County Adviser Laurie Norris are the board secretaries.

If you would like to find out more about the work of the board, contact Helen or Laurie, or get in touch with the NFU North regional office on 02476 939401 or email [email protected]

Board members:

Graham Young

NFU National Dairy Board member, Regional Dairy Board Chair, North

Graham farms alongside his wife Janet running a herd of 180 Holsteins and supplying Arla.

The cows are milked using robotic milkers installed back in 2010.

Alongside his work with the NFU, Graham is also an Arla area chair and a Tesco representative. Key areas of interest include the promotion of school milk, improving animal health and creating better farmer/processors relationships.

Graham is passionate about educating consumers about food production and the benefits of including dairy in a healthy diet.

Neville Kitching

NFU National Dairy Board appointee, North | Regional Dairy Board Vice-chair, North

Nev farms in partnership with wife Cath and son Will at Summerfield Farm, which is on the top edge of the North York Moors.

The farm has been in the family since 1854. They milk a housed herd of 260 holstein friesians, with AYR (all-year-round) calving, and grow grass for silage and wheat for feeding cows and youngstock on medium/heavy loam land.

They have a small scale slurry-only AD plant and are in the process of getting a 97kw solar on a building roof.

Nev is keen to help the industry profit and deal with regulations and other problems thrown at it.

Richard Yarwood (Cheshire)

Dave Wilkinson (Cheshire)

James Seedall (Lancashire)

Kate Waller (Cumbria)

Neil Young (Cumbria)

Dennis Gibb (Northumberland)

Peter Howie (Northumberland)

Graeme Bradley (North Riding and Durham)

Angus Dean (Yorkshire West Riding)

Rachel Coates (Yorkshire West Riding)

Helen Stanier (York East)

Tom Hildreth (York East) 

Board secretaries:

Helen Wainwright

NFU county adviser (Cheshire)

Helen supports NFU members and manages activity across the county of Cheshire.

This includes managing the NFU’s lobbying activities with MPs and a range of external organisations from local authorities, the police and government agencies to non-governmental organisations and relevant commercial bodies.

She also actively supports NFU group secretaries to drive NFU membership and works closely with elected farmer representatives including county officeholders and members of regional and national commodity boards.

Helen is the joint regional lead for the North dairy and poultry boards.

Helen was born and bred in Cheshire and runs her family Angus beef suckler farm alongside her role as county adviser.

Helen joined the NFU from a local feed company after completing an agricultural degree at Harper Adams.

Visit Helen's county page

Laurie Norris

North Riding & Durham county adviser

Laurie supports NFU members and manages activity across North Riding and Durham.

 

This includes managing the NFU’s lobbying activities with MPs and a range of external organisations from local authorities, the police and government agencies to non-governmental organisations and relevant commercial bodies.

She also actively supports NFU group secretaries to drive NFU membership and works closely with elected farmer representatives including county officeholders and members of regional and national commodity boards. 

Laurie is also the regional lead for combinable crops and joint lead for dairy with Helen Wainwright.

Laurie joined the NFU in 1999 and, as a longstanding member of the team, has held a number of roles including regional policy adviser and environment adviser.

She lives near Thirsk with her husband and son.

Visit Laurie's county page


Ask us a question about this page

Once you have submitted your query someone from NFU CallFirst will contact you. If needed, your query will then be passed to the appropriate NFU policy team.

You have 0 characters remaining.

By completing the form with your details on this page, you are agreeing to have this information sent to the NFU for the purposes of contacting you regarding your enquiry. Please take time to read the NFU’s Privacy Notice if you require further information.