The National Trust's 5 million members will soon decide the organisations they wish to be appointed to the trust's council, with the NFU urging farmers for their vote.
Members of the National Trust will have the opportunity to vote for the union to retain the voice of the farming industry as one of the trust’s appointing bodies.
The National Trust’s council holds an election every six years to determine the 18 bodies which will have the right to appoint someone as a member of it.
These organisations are known as ‘appointing bodies’, and the NFU has been one of them for the past six years to give farmers' voices a platform.
Other farming-related members include the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and the Soil Association.
National Trust members are asked to decide which bodies can appoint representatives to the council, the body that holds the trust to account.
The final decision about which organisations will be appointing bodies will be decided by National Trust members via a ballot in autumn 2024.
The outcome of the ballot will be announced at the trust's annual general meeting, on 2 November.
"The NFU has been an appointing body for the past six years and is seeking re-election for the next term," a statement by the union says.
"Elected organisations will become or continue as appointing bodies for six years from the AGM and will have the right to appoint someone to be a member of the council."
Voting for an appointed body, which is only open to the National Trust's 5.3 million members, closes on 25 October.
