皇家华人

Not from a farming background, Paul worked in the financial sector before meeting his wife and joining the family dairy business.

Paul joined the National Dairy Board in 2017 as an appointee before being elected as the North East representative. He served nearly four years as Vice chair in total before being elected National Dairy Board chair in 2024.

Paul is enthusiastic about educating people of all ages about dairy farming and is keen to continue developing relationships with milk processors and other farmer representatives to ensure a joined-up industry approach to future farm policy.

Paul believes a fair and transparent supply chain is critical if dairy farmers are to meet the demands of a quickly changing society. He also works hard to ensure the dairy sector is represented throughout the supply chain and at government level so dairy farmers can make the most of future opportunities and have a bright and prosperous future.

The cows are a mixture of Holstein-Friesians and pedigree Ayrshires.

Ian is interested in improving the environment impact of the industry and has recently embarked on a river fencing scheme to reduce potential erosion and water contamination. The farm has since decided to diversify their water source by investing in a pump to drive water from a nearby watercourse for use on farm in an environmentally friendly and cost effective effort to reduce water costs.

Ian currently sits on the NFU鈥檚 Dairy Environmental Issues Group and is also the finance director for DCD (Dairy Crest Direct).

A strong advocate of dairy producer organisations, Ian believes in the importance of farmer cooperation to improve the dairy supply chain and is keen to work with the NFU Dairy Board to promote good farmer-processor relations.

Jon has had a long involvement with NFU Cymru and is currently its Dairy Board chair, having previously been Montgomeryshire County chairman for three years. He is also a County councillor taking particular interest in the running of the Powys County council farms.听听

There are currently 470 milking cows at Dyffryn milking three times a day supplying milk to Muller, with plans to increase numbers to around 600 cows over the next two years.

With two daughters both perusing careers in medicine Jon was keen to ensure that the farm could work for them in the future. With this in mind he now works closely with a progressive local farming family who are helping to take the business forwards.

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.

Robert farms in partnership with his wife in Ross on Wye. They have a mixed farm which includes, arable, beef sheep, poultry and fruit grown for cider.

Alongside this Robert has a herd of around 130 Holstein Friesian cows which are milked robotically and supplies into Arla.

Robert would like to support the board in driving change in the industry to meet the needs of dairy farmers. He has keen interests in the agri-environment and animal health and welfare.

Robert is particularly passionate about promoting best practice to address agri-environmental issues and encouraging the industry to work more collaboratively to reduce regulatory burden.

Matt lives with his wife and two children on their farm in East Sussex where they have a herd of 650 Holstein and Fleckvieh cows.

They run an autumn block calving system and supply into Arla through their Arla Care programme.听

Following the announcement of the Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations, Matt is passionate about ensuring the regulation is utilised to drive meaningful change between milk buyers and dairy farmers.

Matt is also interested in ensuring farmers are supported in the increasing pressure to adopt environmentally friendly practices while ensuring their businesses are profitable and efficient through the use of data and benchmarking.

Alongside her family, Amy manages the 600-cow dairy herd on a New Zealand-style grazing and spring calving system.听

As well as her farm role, Amy is also the founder of Pastures Green Communications Ltd, helping rural and agricultural businesses promote themselves and tell their story online. She helps businesses with all areas of their marketing strategy and specialises in social media and influencer marketing within the industry.听

Amy is passionate about communicating a positive message for the dairy industry online and spends much of her time sharing her farming story on social media. She has over 18,000 followers and enjoys communicating the farming story to consumers, next generation farmers and school children.

Richard started farming in 1965 with only a handful of livestock. Over the years, Richard has made significant changes to the farm to improve the welfare of his cows and promote a more sustainable farming approach.

Richard is committed to sustainable and responsible farming and believes that improving soil health is key to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the farm and its impact on the environment. This is reflected in the farm's practices. Since 2013, his farm has used a grass-based system as they sought to improve the welfare of their cows and promote a more sustainable farming approach.

Richard鈥檚 farm has been members of Arla since 2016, and since 2022 has been one of the six pilot regenerative farms of Arla in the UK. The aim of the pilot is to farm regeneratively without losing milk production while trying to improve soil health.

Richard is using multispecies herbal lays to improve soil biology and root depth, and he is exploring the use of compost to enhance soil health. The farm is primarily focused on improving soil health, especially by increasing organic matter to improve water retention, which is especially important given the farm location.

In addition to farming, Richard is actively involved in the dairy industry. He was the Vice Chairman of the Dairy Co for five years and was a Director of First Milk for 15 years. Currently, he is a Director of Anglia Farmers. He has also held several positions in the NFU, including County Chairman for Bedfordshire, the NFU Regional Dairy Board Chairman, and the NFU Council.

Richard's future plans for the farm are focused on improving soil health and sustainability. He wants to continue farming regeneratively and look for ways to increase fungal activity in the soil.

The farm supplies Longley Farm and the milk is also sold directly to the public via a vending machine which was installed on the farm.听

Helen has a keen interest in the Jersey breed. She is a member of the National Board for UK Jerseys as well as being the secretary of the North East Jersey Cattle Club.

She also writes a column in the Farmers Guardian called 'in your field' on a monthly basis, which covers a range of topics affecting everyday farming life.

With personal experience in the supply chain, Helen is passionate about creating a more collaborative approach to dairy.

She would like to see recognition from the government and the supply chain regarding the requirements dairy farmers are expected to meet and for these demands to be fair and achievable.

Max runs an autumn block calving system and supplies Mondelez International into Cadbury.

Max also works as a consultant combined with his position as Company Secretary at Selkley Vale Milk Ltd, a dairy co-operative of farmers in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

Using his broad ranging experience, Max is passionate about building a viable and productive industry which promotes innovation and change.

He is keen on improving collaboration to strengthen farmers position in the supply chain.

Sophie and her partner run an organic dairy farm which includes arable and beef production of 1,400 acres in the Dorset countryside.

They have been organic for more than 9 years and their farm consists of 400 dairy cows.

Sophie is very focused on working with the community, this includes hosting school trips, farming discussion groups, and going into schools to teach children about dairy farming.

Sophie feels responsible to encourage people from non-agricultural backgrounds into the industry and employees, apprentices, and work experience students to learn more about farming.

She was awarded a Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 2023 to look at the future of organic farming.听

Sophie also sits on the Arla Board of Representatives.

She also won the Women in Dairy, 2021 Dairy Woman of the Year Award.

David says that helping the next generation of new entrants, farming entrepreneurs and successors is a key focus of his and the reason why he wants to be part of the NFU National Dairy Board.

He says there has never been a more important time to focus on long-term food security and a well-supported next generation from all backgrounds and sectors are a key part of this becoming a reality and should also see agricultural productivity gains in time.

David would like to see the board working closely with the banks and lenders to understand their priorities and encourage them to consider more unsecured lending for those who would like it and have a well-considered business plan to back up their ideas.

With skills and labour being one of the priorities for the dairy board, David is very interested in promoting new entrants into the sector and promoting the huge range of opportunities and support to upskill and progress when in industry. He also has an interest in helping look for opportunities for growth in dairy exports in a world with an ever-growing appetite for high-quality dairy products.

David says that every year he seems to have varying weather-based challenges on his farm, such as a lack of grass in the summer or flooding to name a couple. He says it's vital that work continues to find solutions with farmers across the world to help control what is likely to be farmers' biggest challenge yet.

They provide work experience for student vets and have given many young farmers their first job in farming.

He has a BSc (Hons) degree in agriculture from Harper Adams, a Nuffield Scholarship and a Fellowship of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society. Gary and Jess were finalists in The Farmers Weekly dairy farmer of the year in 2019 and winners of the Welsh Big Bale Silage competition in 2021.

Gary has been on NFU Cymru Welsh Council for eight years and represented Monmouthshire at National Council for four years. He also sits on NFU Cymru鈥檚 TB forum.

Stephen is supported by his wife Rachel and two daughters Isobel and Olivia.

He farms at Mullion, Lizard, West Cornwall, milking 230 pedigree Holsteins in partnership with his eldest brother Richard and father John.

Milk is supplied to Rodda's for clotted cream production on a predominantly butterfat-based contract fulfilled by the all-year-round calving herd.

180 dairy and 40-50 beef youngstock are also reared with the farm renting approximately 150 acres to complement the 277 owned on the home farm.

Having been actively involved with farmer representation roles since 2013 (previously with Arla-MilkLink), Stephen is keen to be an advocate for the industry by having a clear appreciation of all the challenges from policy and regulation through to customer requirements and expectations.

Now in his second term on the National Dairy Board, Stephen has roles which include the NFU Tb Advisory Group, animal health and welfare, farmer representation, air and water quality sub group and now most recently the Red Tractor TAC.

Gemma has been actively involved in the family farm, from rearing to nutrition and showing, as well as helping to manage the day-to-day health of the herd and developing long-term plans for the future of the business.

She previously worked for Mole Valley Farmers as a dairy inputs specialist and logistics manager, and is a club leader and trustee at Launceston YFC.

Gemma was on the Dairy Crest Direct Forum Board, representing around 100 local dairy farmers.

She is keen to work with the board to ensure the views of dairy farmers are represented over the next few years as decisions are made on where public money should be spent and the future of environmental policy. She is also passionate about working to improve fairness in the supply chain and ensuring the security of British dairying for future generations.