The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire has appointed a new chair to represent the region’s farming community in a bid to improve their finances.
Jan Thornton, who was awarded an MBE for her services to rural communities, will lead Grow Yorkshire after it was recently re-established as York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority’s expert advisory panel.
She joined Grow Yorkshire the year after it was established in 2019 and since then it has funded more than 100 environmental audits and assessments on farms, developed special interest groups and training programmes.
Now, Jan Thornton MBE will steer the group at a time when farmers are battling with market volatility, climate change impacts and policy changes.
This combination of impacts has resulted in more than half of the region’s 7,000 farms failing to reach sustainable levels of profits.
These findings were revealed in a report commissioned by David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, which also called for more interventions to support farmers.
David Skaith, the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said:
“Our farmers are the backbone of our region, but with more than half of farms currently making unsustainable profits, we cannot afford to stand still.
“Giving Grow Yorkshire a strengthened role and appointing a chair with a strong track record, we are putting power in the hands of those who know farming and our rural communities best.
“Jan has been a great advocate for farming, the food sector, and rural communities across Yorkshire, her contribution to Grow Yorkshire has been invaluable, and I’m really pleased that she is supporting us on this journey.”
The new Grow Yorkshire will focus on implementing national recommendations to ensure that more farms make a sustainable profit, backing new farming methods to reduce their impact on the environment and removing barriers to training and support the wellbeing of farmers.
Jan Thornton MBE, chair of Grow Yorkshire, said:
“I am delighted to have been appointed by Mayor David Skaith as the new chair of Grow Yorkshire.
“This is an exciting opportunity to bring together lots of stakeholders who are really embedded in farming.
“By working together, we can develop the best policies and actions to support farmers and the wider rural community.”
Partners who work with Grow Yorkshire include regional and national organisations that represent farming including the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).