Jonny Hewitt of Redhouse Farm in Dunham Massey has been inaugurated as NFU Cheshire County Chairman – the youngest Cheshire chairman the organisation has had for 40 years.
He has travelled the world, learning about innovative new farming practices and international food marketing. And now the lad who grew up on a small farm in Cheshire, with his parents Alan and Caroline, wants to put all his accumulated knowledge and expertise into practice as the NFU’s Cheshire County Chairman.
Jonny, 34, is now the self titled director of fun and chaos at Red House Farm in Dunham Massey. His responsibilities at Red House include designing and running award winning maize mazes each year as well as organising various food festivals, cooking demonstrations and special events at Christmas, Easter and Halloween.
Jonny has been married to Steph for six years and has a young family.
He studied agricultural food marketing at Harper Adams for four years and completed a Masters degree in international food marketing at Wye.
On his travels, he’s been to the Caribbean to take an in depth look at its fruit juice and dairy industries and has attended global food and agriculture conferences in Paris, Mexico and Jakarta.
After completing his Masters, Jonny became a sugar broker in London, selling 14,000 tonne boat loads of sugar. When the sugar market began to decline, Jonny headed home during FMD with the aim of getting back into the retail sector. This is when he became a vital part his father-in-law’s project at Red House.
Jonny said: "I never planned to come home to the village of Dunham Massey, work on a farm or marry the girl from around the corner but I’ve ended up doing all three.
"There are a couple of issues I feel need dealing with during my tenure as NFU County Chairman. I want to get the fresh faces of the Cheshire farming scene more involved with the NFU . We need their youthful enthusiasm.
"My skills are in PR and marketing and as NFU Cheshire County Chairman I aim to use these skills to showcase the great work which is being done in the region."
