McCallister will take up the role in September and will be working with young farmers and older landowners to develop partnerships, shared farming arrangements and leases.

The programme is being developed by the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster and the Ulster Farmers’ Union. It is being funded for an initial two years by a £120,000 package from DAERA.

McCallister is a former Ulster Unionist MLA and former deputy leader of the party. In 2013, he resigned from the UUP and was a co-founder of NI21 with former UUP MLA Basil McCrea. He later sat as an independent MLA following a dispute with McCrea and lost his South Down seat in the 2016 Assembly election.

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McCallister studied at CAFRE Greenmount and currently farms near Rathfriland. He is a former director of both the YFCU and Cookstown-based charity Rural Support.

“I am looking forward to working with John, who has practical experience of farming and brings an in-depth knowledge of Northern Ireland’s agriculture industry to the role,” said UFU president Barclay Bell.

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