Farmer Tom Bradshaw, of Fordham, near Colchester, has joined the National Farmers’ Union combinable crops board.

Mike Hambly, a farmer from Cornwall, has been elected as its new chairman, and succeeds Andrew Watts from Hertfordshire, who has stood down after two years in office, and 10 years on the board.

Robert Lockhart from Staffordshire was elected vice chairman, replacing Mr Hambly.

“Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the work Andrew has done over the past decade and particularly for his work as chairman”, said Mr Hambly. “With his close association with a number of live issues like seeds, the ePassport and wayleave payment rates he will no doubt still have a valuable role to play in both the NFU and wider industry.

“My job is to lead the board on the important issues for our sector such as availability of crop protection tools and access to the science and technologies which will be needed to make the crops sector more productive and minimising our environmental impact, alongside making sure implementation of CAP reform does not drive us in the opposite direction. It is going to be a big challenge, but one I look forward to and I am honoured to lead the board.”

Changes to the NFU combinable crops board for 2014-2016 include the appointment of farmer Tom Bradshaw from Essex. Mr Hambly also paid tribute to the excellent work of Robert Lasseter for the two years he served on the board.