Charity tractor run

Park Farmers Group are holding their annual tractor run on Sunday 25 August, leaving Park at 1.30pm.

The event this year is being held in memory of Wishy Feeney and Eóin Lynch, with money being raised to support Marie Curie and the British Heart Foundation. The cost is £20 per tractor.

Mitchell takes director role at UFU

Scottish native, Lucy Mitchell is to take up the role of Commercial and Membership Director at the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU).

Mitchell has recently been working as head of events for the Scottish research body, The James Hutton Institute and has previously served as national chair of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs.

She is replacing Derek Lough at the UFU after he stepped down to take on a job as chief executive of the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU). The UFU membership director role was advertised earlier this summer with a salary in the range of £60,045 – £70,640.

Wool chair

The chairman of Ulster Wool, Brendan Kelly, has encouraged local sheep producers to continue to support the farmer cooperative and deliver any wool still on the farm to their local drop-off site.

In a statement, Kelly acknowledged that returns for wool to farmers in recent years have been “disappointing”, but he pointed out that other farmers are in the same situation, including in New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland.

He maintained that the sole focus of Ulster Wool is to maximise the value of wool, both in the short and long term.

“I know we all need to see wool prices increase but we can only build long-term value by sticking together and the only way sheep farmers can achieve better returns and receive the true market value for their wool is by supporting Ulster Wool,” said Kelly.