Minette Batters
Minette Batters | |
---|---|
Born | Minette Bridget Hill 1967 (age 56–57)[1] |
Occupation | Farmer |
Known for | President, National Farmers' Union 2018–2024 |
Minette Bridget Batters (née Hill, 1967) is a British farmer who was the President of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales from 2018 until 2024.
Career
Batters is a tenant farmer of a 300-acre mixed farm near Downton in Wiltshire.[2][3] As well as the farm, she runs a catering business and has diversified into using a renovated barn as a wedding venue. She was a co-founder of the 2010s campaigns "Ladies in Beef" and the "Great British Beef Week".[4]
She joined the NFU when she started farming, and rose to be county chair and a member of several NFU committees. She served as vice-president of the NFU from 2014 to 2018 and was voted president of the organisation in 2018. In 2020 and 2022 she was re-elected to the post for further two-year terms.[2][4][5][6]
In her role as vice-president and then president, Batters has represented the farming community at a time of great change. She agreed a target for the NFU of
After her final term as NFU president ended in 2024, she started a new farm enterprise, growing flowers.[9]
Honours and awards
In November 2020 she was included in the BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Power List 2020.[10] In August 2021 she was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire.[3]
Personal life
Batters was brought up on a tenant farm near Salisbury and always wanted to be a farmer. She attended Godolphin School, an independent school in Salisbury.[11] As a teenager she worked with horses for David Elsworth, including riding over 30 winners in races. Her father encouraged her to develop a career instead of becoming involved in farming, so she attended catering college and then ran a catering company.[12] In 1998, when her father retired, she took over the farm's tenancy.[4]
She is divorced with two children.[13]
References
- ^ Thompson, Alice; Sylvester, Rachel (8 March 2014). "Minette Batters: 'Losing herds to TB has driven farmers to the edge'". The Times.
- ^ a b "Minette Batters, NFU President". NFU. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ a b Robertson, Kirsten (14 August 2021). "New Deputy Lieutenants announced for Wiltshire". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ^ a b c "NFU elects first female president". BBC News. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ Ryan, Chloe (2 March 2020). "Minette Batters re-elected as NFU president". Poultry News. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ^ Driver, Alistair (23 February 2022). "Minette Batters re-elected as NFU president in new-look top team". Pig World. Lewis Business Media. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ Baggini, Julian. "Minette Batters: Brexit has been "a face-slapping moment" for farming". New Statesman. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ^ Pelletier Marshall, Michelle (23 June 2020). "EXECUTIVE PROFILE: Minette Batters, President of NFU". Women in Agribusiness. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ^ a b Hill, Anna. "On Your Farm: Minette Batters". BBC. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ "Woman's Hour Power List 2020: The List". BBC Radio4. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ "Congratulations to OG Minnette Batters, first female president of the NFU!". Godolphin School. 22 February 2018.
- ^ "Minette Batters, Desert Island Discs – BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "'I feared farmers would be used as a pawn in trade deals – and that's what happened'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2022.