Ruari Martin

NFU Dairy Board appointee, North West

Ruari is director of farm operations and innovations at Myerscough College near Preston in Lancashire.

Not from a farming background, he grew up in the Pennines and attended Myerscough to do a degree due to aspirations to be a farm manager later in life. While there, Ruari carried out relief milking and contract shepherding in a bid to gain as much practical experience as possible. After spells as a cattle nutritionist, dairy consultant and livestock manager on a large 8000-acre estate in Nottinghamshire, he returned to Myerscough College to take up the position of farms director.

Ruari is keen to be involved in dialogue with government and other organisations, putting forward the industry’s point of view and representing the needs of dairy farmers. As he is not from a farming family background, he believes he can bring something different to the board. He has completed a master’s degree in international leadership management to see how big multinational corporations, such as Coca Cola and Unilever, manage their supply chains, corporate social responsibilities and consumer preferences. He hopes to bring those insights back into the agricultural industry and start to try and pass that on to peers and strengthen the lobbying and campaigning power of the farming industry.