New farming representative in Cumbria is looking forward
CUMBRIA’S new NFU county chairman, Alistair Mackintosh, will be fighting for a brighter future for young farmers in Cumbria during the next 12 months.
Alistair Mackintosh, 45, and his wife Angela, farm at Muncaster Home Farm in Ravenglass. He took over the helm of Cumbria NFU during the county inauguration which was held at the Westmorland Hotel in Tebay.
Alistair rents 259 hectares of land from the owners of Muncaster Castle and owns a further 40 hectares locally. He grew up on his father’s dairy farm in Dumfries and attended West of Scotland Agricultural College after he left school.
Muncaster Home Farm has been farmed by Alistair and his family for 24 years. His farm now boasts 100 cows of which 60% are calved in the spring to his Charollais bull and 40% calve in summer to his Limousin bull. Alistair also has 1,000 ewes, predominately North of England mules lambing in late March.
A long serving member of Bootle and Gosforth’s NFU branch, Alistair was elected as its chairman in 2001 and held office for two years. Alistair has also been vice chairman and deputy chairman of Cumbria NFU.
Outside NFU work, Alistair is a valuable member of Ravenglass Parish Council, serves on the executive committee of his local hunt, is chairman of the Cumbrian Farming and Rural Business Association and is on the committee for Muncaster Country Fair.
Commenting on his forthcoming year as county chairman, Alistair said: “It is a great honour to be chairman of Cumbria NFU .
“I would like to see a viable future for young farmers and want to see them getting the opportunities they deserve. The legacy I leave as county chairman will be left to young farmers. Therefore I will work closely with them to find out what they require for a prosperous future in agriculture.
He added: “During my first 12 months as chairman I would like to see a fair price for all the first class commodities we produce here in Cumbria and will ensure that there is an increase in co-operation between these commodities.”
