NFU president pledges to work with Scottish counterparts

Meurig Raymond was selected for a second term as English NFU president. Picture: Lauren Hurley/PA Wire

Pembrokeshire farmer Meurig Raymond, yesterday re-elected as president of the English NFU, has pledged that his organisation will continue to work closely with the union in Scotland to find ways to help UK farmers become more profitable.

Speaking as he was elected for his second term, Raymond said farmers stood a stronger chance of making better returns by working collectively.

Describing the coming months as vitally important to the future of British agriculture, he said: “If we don’t find ways for farmers to be more profitable they will reduce their production and go out of business.”

NFU has nothing to fear and everything to gain

Raymond added: “Consumers want to buy British food and we have only 62 per cent self sufficiency in the UK, it’s incumbent on everyone to build stronger returns into the farming industry.”

The outcome of the vote left the top table of the union unchanged, with Wiltshire farmer Minette Batters, who had campaigned to become the union’s first female president, remaining deputy president and Essex farmer Guy Smith re-elected as the union’s vice-president.