William Martin.JPG "William Martin")
Board Chairman
William farms a 1,000-acre family farm in Cambridgeshire Fens, near Ely, growing combinable crops and sugar beet. He has a degree in French from Cambridge University and is BASIS qualified.
Formerly Chairman of his local NFU Branch, County and East Anglian Regional Board, William has been a member of the NFU Sugar Beet Committee since 2001. He was elected to the NFU Sugar Board in 2004, became Vice Chairman in 2006 and has been Chairman since 2008. William is Chairman of his local Internal Drainage Board and Chairman of a group of farmers co-operatively purchasing agronomy advice. William is also President of the World Association of Beet and Cane Growers (WABCG).
In his spare time William enjoys cycling and playing the guitar.
.JPG "Robert Law")
Robert Law
Board Vice Chairman
Robert farms 3,800 acres on the Herts/Cambs/Essex borders as well as managing a further 1,200 acres in Nottinghamshire and an involvement with a Scottish Estate. Robert is a first generation farmer with no family farming connections, after studying Agricultural Marketing and Business Studies at Harper Adams he won a travel award to Australia and New Zealand before returning to manage his present farm in 1981.
He began to farm in his own right in 1988, expansion has come through purchasing land, renting, share farming and management agreements. His present farming system is mixed arable cropping and a large area of grassland supporting a 2,500 ewe flock.
Sugar Beet growing commenced in 2002 through the outgoers scheme, today some 11,000 tonnes are grown for the Newark and Bury factories. Robert joined the NFU Sugar board in 2005, in 2006 he won the Farmers Weekly ‘Farmer of the year’ award and in 2010 he hosted the Cereals event. Robert was elected Vice-Chairman in March 2011.
Robert is a director of the Oxford Farming Conference.
Nick Wells HND ARAgS.JPG "Nick Wells")
Treasurer
Nick specialised in statistics and sciences and has an HND in Agriculture from Harper-Adams. He farms in North Lincolnshire and his cropping includes Feed Wheat, Malting Barley, Vining Peas, Sugar Beet, Spring Beans and Grassland which includes a riding establishment with around 40 horses.
Nick, elected in 2000 to the National Sugar Committee/Board, has been a negotiator for the crop since 2002 and is Sugar Fund Treasurer. Nick is also a NFU seed negotiator, and is particularly interested in promoting alternative uses for Sugar Beet, sitting on the NNFCC sponsor group since its formation. He is the immediate past Lincolnshire County Chairman during which time he sat on the NFU Audit Committee.
Pastimes include Rotary International, Clay Pigeon Shooting and Skiing.
Robert Baker
Age 47, farming 2,000 arable acres on owned and contract farms based in Elmswell, near Bury St Edmunds.
I am responsible for growing 8,500 tonnes of sugar beet on four contracts, including my own. I am a member of the NFU, Suffolk Agricultural Association where I am a Senior Steward, Council member and member of Finance Committee and also Vice Chairman of Felix Thornley Cobbold Agricultural Trust.
I am committed to the growing of sugar beet because I firmly believe that the crop has a justified economic and agronomic place within arable rotations. I have taken an active role on the board since being elected in 2007 and have been a member of the negotiating team for the past year.
John Goodchild
I am farm manager of the Bartlow Estate, located 12 miles south east of Cambridge on the Cambridgeshire/Essex border. The 1,850 hectare business is comprised of owned, FBT and contract managed farms, growing wheat, spring barley, winter oilseed rape and sugar beet, of which 260 hectares are grown, producing c20,000 tonnes for processing.
In total 2,000 hectares of beet are harvested and c140,000 tonnes are cleaned, loaded and transported to Bury St Edmunds factory as an integrated contract operation for 40 growers.
I currently a member on the NFU/BS Joint Beet Reception Committee for the Bury factory and I am also Chairman of the NFU Saffron Walden local branch.
Ross Haddow
The son of a Lincolnshire tenant farmer, Ross has been a professional farm manager for 31 years, originally in North Yorkshire, and moved to Norfolk in 1983. He has, since 1992, managed the Stody Estate (4,200 acres) for the MacNicol family near Holt, consisting of mixed cereal, vegetable, horticultural and livestock farming, forestry, conservation and property. There are a further 1,700 acres of contract and share farming with neighbours. The estate grows a total of 15,000 tons of sugar beet, which is delivered to the Cantley factory.
Ross has been/is an active member of a range of national and regional farming bodies. He has been NFU chairman of both the Kings Lynn and North Norfolk branches. He was elected to the National Sugar Committee in 2000, and has been an active member of the Sugar Board since its formation.
Robert Hambidge
Age 56, I have been in agriculture for 33 years. I gained my formal agricultural education at Shuttleworth Agricultural College, attending between 1973/76, gaining an OND (Hons). It was with hindsight a wonderful 3 years.
I have spent time working in Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, Dorset before settling in Norfolk. Initially working as an agricultural contractor specialising in sugar beet harvesting, I purchased one of the first Standen Turbobeet’s. A memorable machine!
I first became a share farmer in 1985 moving through 3 increasingly larger farms to my current FBT on 240ha’s. Whilst I still grow much the same crops as I have always done, I have embraced precision farming to help me continue to farm the same hecterage whilst finding ever diminishing cost savings to remain profitable.
Sugar Beet has been the mainstay of my farming business for 30 years and I cannot see it being any different in the foreseeable future.
John Hoyles
I farm with my brother in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire growing a wide range of crops mainly for supermarkets through various packers. I have been a long serving member of the NFU Sugar Board.
I am a Director of the BBRO, I have a keen interest in the industry’s research needs and in technology transfer. My other responsibilities include chairing North Level Internal Drainage Board, which drains 80,000 acres between Peterborough and the Wash. I chair the local Primary School Governors and the Village Parish Committee
David Papworth
Beet Reception Committee Chairman
David Papworth is married to Andra, they have three children and five grandchildren. Andra and David live at Tutington Hall situated between Aylsham and North Walsham in North Norfolk.
David has farmed as a Director of L F Papworth Ltd for 48 years. Sugar beet is a major part of rotation – currently 6,500 tonnes and grown on “family” contracts and a further 10,000 tonnes on farms contract farmed by the company. Since its inception David has been heavily involved with “White Cross Harvesting Syndicate” which harvests with a Holmer Terra Dos over 800 hectares and cleans, loads and hauls over 100,000 tonnes to Cantley factory utilising lorries from syndicate members and local owners.
David has served on the Cantley Factory Forum for eight years and has been a member of the NFU Sugar Board for two years, serving on the Joint Reception Committee and the Transport working group. David was involved at the outset with Paul Bee (British Sugar) to assist in the development of Agnet and Croplands computer programmes.
- Currently chairman of local Parish Council.
- Chairman of Norfolk Rivers Internal Drainage Board.
- DEFRA appointed member of Anglian (Eastern) Regional Flood Defence Committee.
- Member of Rural Payments Agency independent Appeal Panel.
- NFU Mutual Honorary local Assessor.
- Previous Chairman of Aylsham Growers – growing vining peas, dwarf beans, broad beans, brussel sprouts etc.
- Currently member of dwarf bean committee
Chris Durdy
Co-opted board member
I am in a family farming partnership with my two brothers farming just over 400 ha close to the South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire border. In addition some land is rented annually in the local area to grow potatoes for processing.
We grow cereals, oilseed rape, harvesting peas, potatoes and sugar beet and some grass grown for dairy heifers which we look after for a local dairy farmer. Sugar beet has been grown on our farm over 50 years and currently we grow 2,100 tonnes for the Newark factory.
I also run a small haulage operation and manage a group for delivery of 24,000 tonnes of sugar beet to the Newark factory and also haul agricultural products, animal feeds, coal and aggregates.
I was co-opted to the NFU National Sugar Board in March 2010 and have since been on the Transport Working Group for the board, I am currently Chairman of the North East Sugar Board.
Mark Fletcher
Co-opted board member
I farm in partnership with my father in North Norfolk on the Walsingham Estate growing mainly cereals, oilseed rape, and sugar beet alongside our small flock of sheep. In addition to our tenanted farm we run various contact farming arraignments and also a specialist sugar beet contracting service. We currently grow approximately 8000 t of beet for our farming business’s and work another 150 Ha on the contracting side.
I am married to Jenny with two children Callum and Hannah. I studied a degree in agriculture at Writtle agricultural college from 1997 during which I spent a year working on the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex. Last year I took part in the joint Sugar Industry Programme organised by the NFU and British Sugar.
Douglas Inglis
BBRO Director
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