Joined by current county chairman Patrick Wreathall, they raised a glass to 100 years of farming history.


Former County Chairmen with the anniversary cake at the Essex NFU Centenary celebration held at the New Holland tractor plant in Basildon. L to R James Hawkes, Jonathan Dixon Smith, John Jolly, Dan Squier, Rosemary Padfield, Richard Matthews, Robert Stacey, Tim Sell and Patrick Wreathall

Mr Wreathall, who farms near Chelmsford, told the guests: “This is a chance to celebrate everything the NFU has achieved during a century of extraordinary change for agriculture – but also to look at the challenges ahead. “It’s fitting that the event takes place at a location that has also played an important role in farming – New Holland’s Basildon Plant.”

The factory, based in Basildon, Essex and formerly the Ford tractor plant, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The plant covers nearly 100 acres and employs 1,000 people. It makes tens of thousands of tractors every year using 600 tonnes of material every day. Since 1964, when the first tractors were manufactured, more than 1.6 million high quality machines have rolled off the two-kilometre production line.

NFU Director General Andy Robertson led the toasts, praising NFU members for the long-term success of the organisation. “Our success comes down to all the NFU members. You’ve all done your bit, from the young farmers, who we look to for the future, to the ones who started it all back in 1914. They made it through two World Wars and the Great Depression - that’s pretty impressive”, he said.