I’ve moved to the horticulture team after nearly three years in the NFU land management team, where I was covering a wide range of subjects from Rural Crime and Archaeological finds, to Sky lanterns and Dangerous Dogs.
Prior to the NFU I studied Agriculture at Aberystwyth and spent a year in industry working on a New Zealand dairy farm, and a livestock farm in the South of France.
I’m from a livestock based farming background, with a family farm in the South-West, where among other enterprises we have a small herd of rare-breed cattle and an orchard.
It is clear that going forward the Horticulture sector has a range of challenges ahead, with increasing labour shortages, the ongoing threat of Xylella, and ensuring supply chain fairness to name a few. Many of these challenges are made more difficult by the post-Brexit uncertainties which are facing all sectors, and so it is more important than ever to make sure our voices are heard.
I’m sure I will be meeting many of you in due course and I look forward to working with you all on these challenges.