One hundred years of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is about to come alive in the form of a new book. From Campbell to Kendall: A history of the NFU is being launched to celebrate the organisation reaching its centenary.

The 208-page hardback focuses on the 33 men who have occupied the presidency of the NFU. As these men were also both countrymen and farmers, there is also an opportunity to examine how agriculture and the countryside have changed over the past century.

The presidents were all great characters whose backgrounds were as diverse as the NFU itself. There was the Lincolnshire pioneer, Colin Campbell, who provided the spark in the NFU in 1908. In the 1930s, Colonel Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith led the union. A Surrey cattle farmer who went on to become minister of agriculture, Dorman-Smith initiated the plough campaign in World War II. Latterly there was Lord Plumb, respected by prime ministers as “the farmers’ man”.

The book has been written by award-winning Essex farmer and NFU member Guy Smith who said: “When writing the book I was struck by how many current issues seem to be echoes from the past.

“There is also the one hundred year long debate as to what extent the British people should be fed from Britain’s own resources. The current issues concerning increasing food production is nothing new and goes back to the very roots of the NFU.”

The book is published by Halsgrove and available through the NFU website in hardback, priced £14.99 for members and £19.99 for non-members.

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