Alistair Mackintosh has been nominated to become president of the National Farmers’ Union.
If successful in any election bid, the tenant farmer will be the first Cumbrian to take a seat at the top table of the powerful union in its 106-year history.
The Cumberland News understands that Mr Mackintosh, who farms at Muncaster Hall Farm, Ravenglass, has the required number of nominations to stand for election at the union’s annual conference next month.
The nominations close today.
Mr Mackintosh, already Cumbria’s NFU council delegate, is expected to make an announcement on whether he will accept these nominations.
It is a contest, however, in which he is likely to face the union’s sitting president, Meurig Raymond, who visited flood-hit farmers in Cumbria recently, and the current deputy president, Minnette Batters, the first woman to hold a top post.
Farming industry sources in Cumbria believe it would be a strong move to have a county-based farmer at the helm of the union, with many struggling in the face of rock-bottom dairy prices and problems in the beef and lamb sectors.
Mr Mackintosh, a beef, sheep and arable farmer, has farmed all his life, moving to Cumbria 35 years ago. In that time he has held many posts in the union, and has been on the board of the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX).
Kirkoswald dairy farmer Les Armstrong hopes all Cumbrian farmers will support Mr Mackintosh.
“Cumbria is desperate to have some representation at the highest level in the NFU,” said Mr Armstrong. “Alistair understands farming, particularly in Cumbria, and all sectors feel the desperate need for leadership at this time.”
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