New Book Charts 100 Year History Of The NFU And Agriculture

Main Category: Water - Air Quality / Agriculture
Article Date: 04 Jul 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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One hundred years of the NFU is about to come alive in the form of a new book. 'From Campbell to Kendall: A history of the NFU' is being launched to celebrate the organisation's centenary.

The lavishly illustrated 208-page hardback charts one hundred years of history by focussing on the 33 men who have occupied the presidency of the NFU. As these men were also both countrymen and farmers, there is also an opportunity to examine how agriculture and the countryside have changed over the past century.

The presidents were all great characters whose backgrounds were as diverse as the NFU itself. There was the bluff Lincolnshire pioneer, Colin Campbell, who provided the very spark for the NFU in 1908. In the 1930s, the Union was led by the suave Colonel Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, a Surrey cattle farmer who went on to become Minister of Agriculture and initiated the plough campaign in the Second World War. Latterly there was Lord Plumb, respected by Prime-Ministers as "the farmers' man" and affectionately known by farmers as "our `Enry".

The book has been written by award-winning Essex farmer and NFU member Guy Smith who said: "When writing the book I was struck by how many current issues seem to be echoes from the past. For instance, the first ever resolution of the NFU was a call on Government to do more to combat bovine TB.

"There is also the one hundred year long debate as to what extent the British people should be fed from Britain's own resources. The current issues concerning increasing food production is nothing new and goes back to the very roots of the NFU."

Notes

1. 'From Campbell to Kendall: A history of the NFU' is published by Halsgrove and available through the NFU website in hardback, priced £14.99 for members and £19.99 for non-members. Click here for more details

2. The book will be officially launched at this year's Royal Show, NFU HQ, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, CV8 2TZ on Thursday July 3 2008. Guy Smith will be available for interviews following the media breakfast at 9.30am.

3. More information on the NFU centenary can be found at http://www.nfu100.com

http://www.nfu100.com