David farms south of Horsham in West Sussex with his wife and two sons over 1200 tenanted hectares in the heart of the Sussex Weald.

Starting in 1989 with 70ha the business now has arable, dairy beef, Sussex suckler herd and sheep enterprises. In 2003 the Farm Shop opened and sells a wide range of food from the Victorian stable yard at Westons.

He has served previously within the NFU as Branch Chair, West Sussex Council Delegate, South East Regional Chair as well as four years on Governance Board.

David was elected to the position of NFU Deputy President in February 2024.

Responsibilities

• EU and international relations
• Banking
• Biodiversity
• Food labelling
• Food safety
• Food service and hospitality
• Agricultural transition (productivity, ELMs, stability)
• Plant health
• Assurance schemes
• British Agriculture Bureau
• Health, safety and wellbeing
• Agricultural transport
• Uplands
• Tenants

Emily grew up on a mixed farm in Bedfordshire and has been involved in helping out across the business, from working in the family farm shop to working with livestock and driving the combine at harvest.

She graduated from Harper Adams with a BSc (Hons) in Agriculture with Farm Business Management in 2021 and then worked as the Students’ Union president until 2022. She was also an NFU Student & Young Farmer Ambassador from 2022 to 2023 so has a good understanding of the NFU and what it can do for members.

In her spare time, Emily enjoys playing her guitar, being in the outdoors, fitness and following women’s rugby. She is also an active member of Bedford Young Farmers.

Diane has led on the NFU’s policy work feeding into the Environment Act 2021 and more recently other areas such as nutrient neutrality and water quality.  She also provides the secretariat to the NFU’s Environment Forum, which works with members, other NFU commodity boards, government, government agencies and other stakeholders to ensure farmers’ views on the environment are at the forefront of policy making.

Alongside her responsibilities at the NFU, Diane was the Vice-Chair of the Environment Working Group at COPA-COGECA, which is the trade body for farmers and agri-cooperatives at an EU level, for six years until 2020.  

Before joining the NFU, Diane was a researcher at Cambridge University Farm and she has a BSc and PhD from the University of Aberdeen, both in soil science.

The joint venture has a mix of owned, tenanted and contract farming agreements, growing milling and feed wheat, milling oats, feed and malting barley, peas, beans and, for the time being, oilseed rape. 

Due to the complex nature of the soils in South Herts, ranging from heavy clays to gravel, Jamie and his colleagues cover a wide range of cultivation and drilling methods. However, a happy medium of min-till normally takes place on 50% of the land farmed. All grain is sold through Openfield going to homes relatively locally, usually within 50 miles.

At home, the family farm has diversified, with an 80-horse livery and riding school, with all hay and straw produced in house.

Having been involved in the NFU locally since returning home from Harper Adams in 2005 Jamie has gradually become more and more involved at a regional level and now, as well as being Hertfordshire NFU County chair, he is also East Anglia Combinable Crops Board chair. He is also an ex-Cereals Development Programme participant, and keen to get others involved in these types of initiatives.  

Jamie is passionate about achieving the best for cereal and oilseed producers, and proud to represent the cereals interests of East Anglia members.

Her focus is on the on-farm aspects of plant health issues, such as IPM, stewardship and the impact of farming practices on plant and soil health.