David Handford took up the reins from Jane Bassett, who has completed her two-year stint in the prestigious role.
The new chair is looking forward to carrying on the vital work undergone by his predecessor and treading his own path.
Far-from-typical background
David’s family has farmed the same land in the far north-west of the county, near New Mills in the High Peak, for more than 100 years.
His background is far from typical, with a career in academia preceding his return to day-to-day agriculture.
After working as a technician at Harper Adams, he completed a PhD and worked his way up to become a lecturer there before he returned to help run the established dairy farm.
The family operates as a partnership, with David, his wife, son and brother sharing the work across two farms.
“Dairy cow numbers have gone up over the years, so we put up a new dairy in 2015, a new cubicle building, new parlour, and the milking herd went from 90 to 140/150 now” he said.
“My brother milks at the other farm, the main site, and here we have young stock, bulling heifers, right up to calving, and then they go up to the other farm. Beef cross calves are also reared and sold through our local cattle market as strong stores.
“The way I see it is you do your harvest twice a day in dairying, and then you’ve got another harvest to do in the summer - we grow grass and some whole crop barley as well. You’ve got to want to do it - it’s a serious commitment.”
Making a difference
Frustrations with politics led David to get more involved in NFU grassroots lobbying and eventually to put himself forward for the county chair position.
“Since getting more involved, getting MPs onto farm, I feel like myself and the Derbyshire county team have actually made a difference. That’s the best bit - influencing MPs and the people who make the big decisions that impact on agriculture,” he said.
“I hope that when I speak, at NFU Council or elsewhere, that it’s worth listening to. I’m not the loudest person in the room by any stretch, but I’m willing to put the work in to represent the best interests of Derbyshire farmers.”
He was full of praise for Jane, Andrew Wood and County Adviser Andrew Critchlow for the tireless work they put in to ensure Derbyshire’s farming voice is heard, and is particularly interested in ensuring standards of imported food match our own, as well as encouraging farming’s younger generation to step forward and educating the public.about the story behind their food.