Fresh faces join North West Livestock Board
After an eagerly contested election, Kendal farmer Gordon Capstick and Muncaster farmer Alistair Mackintosh, have been voted onto the NFU's North West Livestock Board.
Gordon and Alistair (who are both former NFU Cumbria County Chairmen) will attend their first NFU livestock board meeting on Tuesday 21 March at Briars Hall in Ormskirk, Lancashire
Gordon Capstick, in partnership with his wife Mary, farms more than 600 acres at Park House Farm in South Cumbria. The farm is mainly grass with a few acres of short-term leys and 10 acres of pick your own fruit
The farm supports 350 cattle-suckler cows and followers and 1,200 mule lambing ewes producing early and later prime lambs.
He was Cumbria County Chairman in 2001-the year of Foot and Mouth Disease. He has also been county livestock committee chairman and chair of the North West PR Committee. He also acts as an insurance assessor for NFU Mutual.
Gordon is a parish councillor, a board member of the Westmorland County Show and is currently county president of the Young Farmers Club.
After being elected, Gordon said: "The main issues I'll be looking into now that I'm on the board include poor farmgate prices, the endless reams of red tape livestock farmers have to put up with and animal health issues.
"The TB issue is something I am very keen to address."
Alistair Mackintosh is the son of a dairy farmer who farms in partnership with his wife, Angela.
His business consists of 1,000 ewes and 100 beef cows. Bull calves are fattened, as are half of the lambs, on home grown barley. The heifers and the rest of the lambs are sold store.
He is very keen on the benefits of co-operation and to that end he has been instrumental in establishing a buying group and machinery ring within the county.
After being elected, Alistair said: "I'm pleased there was an election. It shows that the NFU has a healthy democracy. Obviously I'm delighted to have been elected and I will do my utmost to represent Cumbrian livestock members through some challenging times ahead."
There were three candidates for two vacant positions on the livestock board, and commenting on the outcome of the election, third candidate Peter Allen said: " I am delighted that so many NFU members made the effort to participate in this democratic process and I would like to offer my congratulations to both Alistair and Gordon. I am sure they will represent Cumbria's livestock farmers very effectively and they will both enjoy my full support."
