Member concern over NFU’s decision to close forums

The NFU’s decision to restructure member representation, including the scrapping of national forums, is causing grave concern among some farmer members.

The union is currently introducing a new NFU Communities platform for member engagement in specific areas. These include Organics, Tenants, Next Generation and Environment.

But Farmers Weekly has learned that there is concern within each group that a lot of the work will shift to online meetings, and direct member representation may be diluted.

See also: NFU ‘empowering counties and branches’ to reconnect grassroots

In addition, the main board sizes are expected to increase to accommodate community representation, and there is concern that time and expertise available for specific sectors will be constrained.

“Members feel that this will focus NFU activity considerably more around Stoneleigh HQ,” said one disgruntled farmer member.

“The NFU will have to focus extremely hard on its community representation to ensure continued member engagement.”

For example, some policies which used to come under the remit of the Uplands Forum could now be handled by the NFU’s Livestock Board.

David Airey, a sheep farmer based in the Pennines in Yorkshire, used to sit on the NFU’s national Uplands Forum until four years ago, also working as its vice-chairman.

“I’m concerned that the message from the uplands may get diluted if it’s handled by the Livestock Board, which already has enough problems to deal with,” he said.

“We need to have the farmer at the coalface who is dealing with these issues day in, day out, to be able to talk to ministers and civil servants directly, not via a third party.”

Mark Weekes, NFU Livestock Board South chairman and a sheep farmer based near Exeter, Devon, said: “The farming industry would be in a much worse position without the NFU.

“I completely agree it was right for the NFU to carry out a review, which is good practice for any business.

“However, I think the national forums delivered and they were a good format.

“I’m still to be convinced about how the new NFU Communities will work and how they are going to deliver.”

Restructuring

In January 2023, the NFU announced a business restructuring, including plans to cut costs amid concerns of a £6.5m budget shortfall in its finances by 2027.

The NFU said it would be introducing the new communities as a means “to represent a new way of policy discussion and formulation for selected cross-cutting issues”.

Currently, both the NFU Communities and forums are running alongside each other. The objective is to dissolve the forums, with the last one ending in October.

An NFU spokesperson said: “We remain confident that these changes, which are in the very early stages, will deliver a more agile business, increased member engagement and importantly ensure the NFU is able to deal more effectively with the pace of change impacting farming business today and into the future.”