Last week, Ian Marshall was elected as the new president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU). Over the last three years he has held the role of deputy president and increasingly demonstrated the credentials which suggest he will be an extremely effective leader of Northern Ireland’s largest farm lobby organisation.

His greatest strength is his ability to speak with confidence and authority, whether in a formal speech, when being interviewed by the media or at a farmers’ meeting.

Communication is a vital skill in this modern era. Being able to speak without prevarication and waffle is perhaps the greatest skill of all.

Of course, there is a lot more to the job of president of the UFU than being able to address a crowd and Marshall has a significant task on his hands – to pull his organisation together and re-establish relationships after the divisive debate on CAP reform. He defends the role of the UFU in that debate.

“We have had the best interests of our members at heart, although we knew when we started the process it would be difficult to get a position agreeable to all and it had the potential to set farmer against farmer. But it is a democratic process and we are led by our members,” he says.

With the Union and DARD set to meet in the coming weeks to discuss the major decisions still to be taken on CAP reform, Marshall probably knows that he will not get everything he wants around CAP.

The vibe coming from most sides is that there is a need to find compromise and to move on.

Although CAP has received most of the attention over the last 12 months, it is closely followed by the work of the Agri-Food Strategy Board – the body set up to develop a long-term vision for the agri-food industry in NI. A body into which Ian Marshall has personally invested a lot of time and effort.

Along with past UFU president John Thompson, he is one of the only farmer representatives on the 12-member board.

While there is plenty of scepticism among farmers about whether the board will actually deliver much for them, Marshall is resolute that it has been a worthwhile process.

“We need trust and integrity in the supply chain and the first part of that is talking to each other. We are better in the room together,” he says.

He also maintains there is a realisation from processors that with no raw material they have no business and that is time for farmers to overcome any fears they have of supply contracts with processors.

“The aim must be to get profitability onto farms – that is my main priority as president of the UFU,” says Marshall.

Home farm

His own farm is reasonably typical of a lot of dairy herds in NI. He has expanded cow numbers from 40 in the mid-80s, when he returned home from Greenmount, to the 180 cows on the farm now.

The farm is reliant on conacre land (up to 70% of the land base is conacre) and cows are totally confined due to a limited grazing block around the yard.

Cows are zero grazed from spring to autumn and produce around 7,500 litres of milk, on slightly under 2t of concentrate. After many years supplying United Dairy Farmers, milk is now sold to Fane Valley Co-op.

Looking ahead, the new UFU president would like to see more young farmers getting involved in the organisation.

He went to his first meeting when he was 18 and admits to initially feeling that it was not the most welcoming environment for a young person.

“But we need the energy that young people bring,” he says.

Now in his mid-40s, Marshall gives off the vibe that he is still full of energy and passion, having come through the various ranks within the UFU. Once his two years are up, don’t expect him to slide away into the background. There is an inner drive which suggests other opportunities will be grasped when they come along.