Last Wednesday (May 1) marked the last day which David Brown from Florencecourt served as UFU President.

His two-year term as President came to an end at the organisation's Annual General Meeting in Loughry Campus.

David's reign has taken him on regular visits to Westminster, Brussels and around the counties of Northern Ireland as well as representing the Union at the UK Farm Union meetings where they approve policy on various aspects of agriculture.

In the past year, David also attended a major conference in Canada.

To many, David's Presidency was a highly successful one, where he was unafraid to get his point across and he was an extremely competent speaker. At the recent UFU Annual Dinner held at the Lough Erne Resort in Fermanagh, he welcomed the new Agriculture Minister, Andrew Muir. During his Presidency, he helped to encourage sizeable donations to his chosen charity of Marie Curie.

However David will be extremely disappointed that progress on the Bovine TB Eradication Strategy stalled following a court challenge. He was one of many of the stakeholders involved in putting a package of measures together along with DAERA to have a wildlife intervention scheme in place.

David rose to the top position at the UFU after representing his Fermanagh South-West Group on the Beef and Lamb Committee and then serving as two years as County Chairman during which he represented farmers throughout the extreme flood issues and subsequent Rivers Agency review.

David become a member of the UFU Management Board and elected Deputy President in 2018.

His successor is William Irvine, who has now served four years as Deputy President. From Mountnorris, Co. Armagh, he is a dairy farmer in partnership with his wife, Ruth and son David and has held numerous roles within the UFU.

John McLenaghan was re-elected as deputy president for a second term. He will be joined by newly elected deputy president Glenn Cuddy.