The two-year term of current Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) president Barclay Bell is to end this April, and he is set to be replaced by one of his deputies, either Ivor Ferguson or Victor Chestnutt.

Normal convention is that Ferguson will take over, given that he has now served as deputy for two terms, and a total of four years, unlike Chestnutt who was first elected in 2016. However, that decision is in the hands of the membership, and also depends on whether Chestnutt would be willing to stand against Ferguson.

Whatever happens, there will be at least one deputy president job up for grabs. In the frame are understood to be a number of names including Florencecourt beef farmer David Brown, Saintfield sheep producer Crosby Cleland, Tandragee arable farmer Tim McCleland and Dungiven dairy and sheep producer Ian Buchanan.

To progress to election at the AGM in April, each candidate needs to have been nominated by at least one UFU county executive.