PRINCETOWN farmer Layland Branfield will begin the new year by taking over the reins of Devon NFU as its new chairman. Layland and his family have lived at Moorlands Farm, Princetown, for the past 17 years, farming beef and sheep. He is a fifth generation hill farmer in a family originally from Exmoor. After time working on his father?s farm and spending three years as a flock manager in Cumbria, Layland and his wife Gill decided to make the move to West Devon. ?I was the oldest of four brothers and you need to go and make your way in the world. We looked for a farm and one came up on Dartmoor and I?ve never regretted the move,? he said. ?We have been in different places and Tavistock is the nicest town. Hopefully, our children will form part of that community as they grow up.? Layland was elected at the NFU annual meeting in October and will take on the role initially for one year. In most counties the chairmanship is for two years but for some larger counties, like Devon, which has 2,300 members, the commitment may be shorter. Previous involvement in various NFU committees should put Layland in good stead for his demanding new position. He was chairman of the Tavistock and Plymouth branch of the union as well as being on the tenants? committee. He then became chairman of the Less Favoured Areas (LFA) forum, a group within the NFU, representing hill farmers on Dartmoor, Exmoor and Bodmin Moor . Layland was also known as a governor at Tavistock College until October when he resigned in order to concentrate on his new chairmanship post. Eldest daughter, Laura, 19, is currently studying law at Cardiff University while William, 17, and Emily, 12, are both at the college. As well as supporting Layland in his range of roles, Gill is near completion of a French and German degree course which she has been studying part-time for six years. Since moving to Dartmoor, Layland believes the face of farming has altered ?terrifically? due to agricultural policy changes and hopes that farmers are not eventually driven away from the area because of the reforms. ?We are now farming the environment rather than the livestock. We are rewarded not for what we produce but we receive payment for what we do for the environment,? he said. ?In the next five years, food production will be a by-product. The drivers from above don?t mention food production, it?s just about providing the environment that they perceive should be on Dartmoor. It will be much scrubbier and wilder. ?The policies are based on what people want to see, the actual production of food on Dartmoor will be irrelevant.? ?Farmers on Dartmoor are a dying breed in the good times. If we disappear and the cattle and sheep disappear, in fifteen years? time when they decide they want us to come back it will be too late because the skills will have been lost.? Layland predicts even more change for farmers which he says will be a ?painful process? for some. He cites his main aim as helping to get them a fair return for their labour. ?There will be mass changes in agriculture over the next twelve months, due mainly to the common agricultural policy reforms. ?I want to try and help farmers through these changes by representing them at various levels so that we can try and get the best deal for them and see them through what will be a difficult year,? he said. ?At present we are in some difficult times, milk especially is going through a difficult time and hopefully we can try to help achieve a fair price for them that will cover their costs. ?In the end we want to command a fair price for our products and improve on profitability.?
