Author: Li Ju

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Mark Suthern ARAgS, Managing Director and National Head of Agriculture for Barclays bank, will be making a presentation to members on Tuesday 11th August via a Zoom webinar. He will be giving an outlook on how the current pandemic will affect business following lockdown restrictions. 

The event will take place between 2 and 3pm and to register please email Milly Fyfe the English Panel secretary at: hello@millyfyfe.com  

After 18 years in office, Professor Malcolm Stansfield has retired from his position as Honorary Secretary to the English Panel of the Council for Awards for the Royal Agricultural Societies (CARAS).

As a Fellow of Royal Agricultural Societies (FRAgS) and active member from the 1980s, he was the natural successor to Mike Soper. With his inimitable style and customary dedication, Malcolm embraced the role of arranging panel meetings, study tours, conferences, processing applications for Associateship/Fellowship and organising the Awards presentation ceremonies.

Malcolm has guided a succession of Chairman to create the culture of fellowship and superb camaraderie the organisation enjoys today. Malcom will remain as a Moderator and Trustee of CARAS.

Malcolm recalls numerous memorable visits to farms, estates and businesses across the length and breadth of the country. Amongst the many highlights has been the 2019 study tour to Norfolk, visiting the John Innes Centre, historic Holkham Estate and seeing the valuable work preventing run off into the streams at Salle Farms.

Commenting on Malcolm’s retirement Panel Chairman Duncan Worth said ‘we owe our gratitude and sincere thanks to Malcolm for all his work with CARAS over the years’. ‘He is completely dedicated to all that he does within the food and farming industry and to the people that he meets.’

Following Malcolm’s retirement his successor Milly Fyfe, will take on the role as English Panel Secretary. Milly is a former NFYFC chairman, has a background in PR, marketing and charity fundraising and has worked for farming organisations including the R.A.B.I and the Shorthorn Society.

Milly commented ‘I am looking forward to maintaining and developing the superb work that Malcolm has achieved over the many years.’ ‘I hope to help the organisation move forward with embracing new technology and engage more with the farming community to ensure high achieving and committed individuals are suitably recognised’.  

The AGM of the Council for Awards of Royal Agricultural Societies English Panel was held on 17^th June via Zoom conferencing, where the handover took place.

Correspondence concerning the English Panel of CARAS should be sent to Milly Fyfe by emailing: hello@millyfyfe.com

For more information on the work of CARAS visit: https://royalagriculturalsocietiesawards.org/about-caras/ or follow on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/council-for-awards-of-royal-agricultural-societies-english-panel  

Professor Malcolm Stansfield MBE, BSc, Dip. Agric, FIAgrM, FRAgS, FRASE, Princess Royal Award, Churchill Scholar.

Malcolm was born and raised near Barnoldswick (‘Barlick’ to locals), Son of a Master Butcher, his grandparents farmed at nearby Copy Nook Farm in Bowland. When he was born, Barnoldswick was within the West Riding of Yorkshire –a Yorkshireman “from God’s own County” – although since 1974 the residents of the town reluctantly pay their council taxes to Lancashire! Commitment to practical farming combined with suitable prowess at school secured Malcolm a place in 1953 to study agriculture at the University of Leeds. A postgraduate diploma in agriculture brought him to study at Reading where he became a Senior Lecturer in Farm Management combined with the Director of the University’s farms. Malcolm retired after 42 years as the longest-serving member of the University of Reading’s academic staff.

When Director of the University of Reading Farm Management Unit within the Agriculture Faculty, Malcolm with others founded the International Farm Management Association (IFMA) which held its first biennial congress in 1971. Elected President in 1991, Malcolm retired at the 16^th Congress in Cork in 2007 and is now a Patron.

Malcolm has served as Chief Agricultural Advisor to the Royal Agricultural Society of England for several years.

A Winston Churchill Scholar, he studied the management of large- scale dairying in North America and is recipient of the Princess Royal Award for his services to the UK dairy industry. He has lectured widely, been consultant in numerous countries and was a Special Adviser to the House of Commons Agriculture Select Committee. He is author of * management and husbandry texts and in his engaging style has been presenter of a series of agricultural video programmes – widely used in teaching establishments.

In the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2003 Malcolm was awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire) for his services to agriculture and to the community in Reading.

Malcolm was awarded the post of Hon. Visiting Professor by The Royal Agricultural College (now the Royal Agricultural University) in 2007.

*Among many written communications, Malcolm and Professor Tony Giles wrote their notable 1980 book The Farmer as Manager (Geo. Allen & Unwin). Malcolm also wrote in 1983 The New Herdsman’s Book (Farming Press), and in 1994 with the late Eric Carter British Farming: changing policies and production systems (Farming Press).

Mrs Milly Fyfe BA (Hons)

Quoted by Women’s Hour as a progressive woman in Agriculture, an inspirational woman award winner and Farmers Weekly Farming hero finalist, Milly forged her career in the food and farming industry after climbing the ranks within the Young Farmers Clubs Organisation where she became National Chairman in 2012.

She has held various voluntary roles within agriculture including representation on the NFU council, Oxford Farming Conference council as well as a member of the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Women in Food and Farming networking group.

She represented the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (R.A.B.I) for 8 years as East Midlands Regional Manager, where she took charge of fundraising, marketing and communications for the charity.

In 2016 she become Chief Executive Officer of the Shorthorn Society and Beef Shorthorn Society before taking a career break in 2017 to start a family.

Milly is based in Northamptonshire and supports her husband on a mixed farm with a beef suckler herd, 300 breeding ewes as well as arable crops including wheat, barley, hay and silage.

Thanks to the support of the Henry Plumb Foundation Milly was able to launch a project looking at adding value to rare breed pork and now runs a successful pork meat box scheme with Gloucester Old Spot Pigs.

A Food and Farming Ambassador, rural communicator and friend, Milly now looks to the future helping businesses with their marketing and PR as well as taking on the role of English Panel secretary for the Council for Awards of the Royal Agricultural Societies.

Milly has a degree in Business and Management for the University of Northampton

Congratulations to CARAS Associate David Jones who has sent this very special message to the NHS staff and all those working for our healthy and safety at this critical time.

All CARAS Meetings and events are currently postponed for the foreseeable future due to the present restrictions and controls in place.

Agriculture continues to react to the challenges the present situation has given us and congratulations to all the staff working within the sector to achieve this. Once we return to some semblance of normality, we have a real challenge to make sure the general public, government and the powers that be understand the need to have a strong/robust supply chain that produces quality food within the UK.

The CARAS Council has adapted to the situation with the planed Council meeting will be making use of a video conference facility.

The process associate with the review of applications is continuing with the exception of the assessment visits which are on hold until the present restrictions are amended to allow them to take place again.

Here is a copy of the first CARAS Newsletter of 2020

CARAS Wales Newsletter Issue No. 6

To keep up-to-date with CARAS Wales News and Events please click on the following link :

CARAS Wales Conference – Friday 24 January 2020 at 2pm
at the Royal Welsh Showground

CARAS Wales conference seeks to continue to build on the success of our ambition to become more visible and to help to shape and influence the future of agriculture.

Our key note speakers include Mr Oliver McEntyre, National Strategy Officer for Barclays Agriculture, and Mr Huw Thomas, Managing Director of Puffin Produce.

This is an exciting opportunity to put forward the views of CARAS Wales and we very much hope you will be able to attend.

If you would like to attend the Conference then please contact the CARAS Wales office on 01982 554412 or email pachiefexec@rwas.co.uk

A very successful joint seminar was held with the Worshipful Company of Farmers on the 1st October 2019 which resulted in a report being produced covering ‘Optimising wheat yields in the UK’.
To see the report please click here