Martin Kennedy has been elected the 63rd president of the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS). Andrew Connon and Robin Traquair have also been announced as the new vice presidents.

Martin Kennedy 2019 42 copy

NFUS president, Martin Kennedy.

Kennedy is a farmer from Highland Perthshire and has served as vice president of the Union since 2017.

Replacing the outgoing Andrew McCornick, Kennedy will serve as president for two years and may only serve two consecutive terms.

Vice presidents Andrew Connon and Robin Traquair will initially serve for two years before the post reverts to an annual election. Connon currently runs a small commercial sheep flock and has been a member of NFUS for 20 years. Traquair currently farms 350 indoor sows taking stock from farrow to finish, and selling the progeny through Scotlean, a farmer-based co-op of which he is a director.

“I see these challenges as opportunities, and provided we implement a positive future agricultural policy, one that’s right for Scotland, then we can create a profitable industry that’s the envy of many across the globe.”

Commenting on his new role, Kennedy commented: “It goes without saying that it is indeed a great honour to be elected President of NFU Scotland. This is a role I recognise carries a huge responsibility to represent all our members in all sectors of farming and crofting throughout Scotland.

“Without question we will have some real challenges ahead as we strive to meet not only climate change and environmental targets, but also at the same time continue to carry out our fundamental role of food production.

“I see these challenges as opportunities, and provided we implement a positive future agricultural policy, one that’s right for Scotland, then we can create a profitable industry that’s the envy of many across the globe.”

Kennedy went on to pay tribute to the many people he has worked with during his four years as vice president, particularly the outgoing president Andrew McCornick and Charlie Adam, who stepped down as vice president and a ten-year spell on the Union’s board.

This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.

Topics