NFU's Holland (Lincs) county chairman for the next two years is Bourne farmer, Tony Reynolds. Tony, who farms with his son-in-law Clive Patrick, at Thurlby, takes on the post from Tony Gent of Sutton St Edmund.
Tony and Clive hosted more than 4,000 members of the public at their Open Farm Sunday event last June and Tony is keen to keep communicating farming's key roles in food production, wildlife management and climate change.
"We have some very strong messages about farming's role in the debates on food security, the environment and climate change," says Tony. "Having been involved in the food and farming industries for much of my life, the challenges and opportunities we face in producing for a global food market are the most significant. Add to that the increased focus on the environment and climate change, then farming's role has never been more vital."
Tony's farming enterprises extend over two farms, 245 hectares at Thurlby Grange and 1000 hectares near Burton Lazars, Melton Mowbray. The farms have now been completely converted to "no-till" an innovation in arable production that means that the land is never ploughed or cultivated, but the farm's crops of wheat, oilseed rape and peas and beans are sown straight into the ground.
Tony is married to Ruth and they have three daughters, all married to local farmers. Tony's three grandsons are all desperate to be farmers and already help out on their fathers' and grandfather's farms. Tony continued:
"Like every farmer, I wish I had a crystal ball to be able to see what the future will hold for my grand children. Farming's fortunes are so mixed, as grain prices rise, our livestock industry is experiencing enormous problems, especially after foot and mouth and with the prospect of bluetongue rearing its head again.
"I think, though, that food security will become much more of an issue as our climate warms and the world population grows. So, perhaps in thirty years time, when my grandsons are farming, their businesses will be thriving and their roles as both custodians of the countryside and food producers will be just as vital to society."
