South Derry group chairman profile – Ian Brown

After finishing school, I attended Greenmount College and completed a part-time agricultural course whilst, at the same time, working at home.

We have a poultry, beef and sheep enterprise. I always wanted to return home to the farm and build on what was already there and make the business work not just for myself but for the benefit of the whole family.

My father has been a member of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) since the late 90s and when I was old enough, I started to attend these with him. This has really helped to develop my knowledge across the whole industry and in 2015 I was elected as vice-chair of the South Derry group. In the role as vice-chair and latterly in the role as chair of the group, I have assisted with the organising of group meetings and events.

As well as sitting on the UFU executive committee and poultry committee, I have been fortunate enough to have sat on the inaugural UFU Next Generation Forum. This has allowed me to share and exchange views with likeminded young farmers and develop personally.

I have also been a member of Moneymore Young Farmers’ Club (YFC) for a number of years in which I have enjoyed taking part in many events across the board whilst holding official positions within the club including UFU rep, assistant club leader and representing the club on the county committee.

As a member of the UFU poultry committee, we have been extremely busy this last few years dealing with issues such as RHI and currently the biggest issue facing us at the moment is outbreaks of bird flu in a few countries and biosecurity issues.

Through my involvement in the UFU, I would like to see more transparency in the supply chain and fair prices across all sectors and more profitability for our industry especially with our imminent exit from the EU.

I would encourage all members to get involved within the UFU at local group level and attend their group meetings when they recommence. This year our winter programme is being delivered in a different format. We have been unable to have physical monthly meetings however UFU HQ have been holding online meetings.

The next winter programme meeting will be held on 2 December 2020 entitled ‘food policy with Professor Tim Lang’. We also continue our farm tours programme with UFU deputy president William Irvine on 9 December at 7.30pm. All you need to do for both is register on the UFU website and you will be sent the link the day prior. If you are having any difficulty accessing these please contact the group office on 02879632127.

The UFU 2021 diaries have now arrived into the group office and you can call at the office to collect these.