Council Members

Dr Jude McCann grew up on a family farm in Co Derry, Northern Ireland. From 2000-2007 he worked in New Zealand working initially as a researcher at the University of Auckland and later returning to studies examining the social impacts of subsidy reforms on farming families and communities. He has significant experience within agriculture and, in particular, the farm support sector. He spent seven years as Chief Executive of a charity which provides support to farmers and their families in Northern Ireland, before taking up the position of CEO with the Farming Community Network (FCN) in January 2020 - now working across England and Wales.

His educational experience has provided him with a global perspective of agriculture and expertise, particularly related to welfare and social issues in farming communities. This includes his PhD through Queen’s University Belfast examining information systems, rural restructuring, and the social impacts of subsidy reforms in New Zealand as well as his Nuffield Farming scholarship 2017/18, in which he examined how farm support organisations can help secure farmers’ resilience in a changing world.

His experience in establishing and managing support programmes has increased his passion for sustainable farming communities, protecting our environment for future generations and he is the current chair of Farming Help.

Julia Latto has over 25 years of experience in economic development, and leads on a wide portfolio of national programs for Scottish Enterprise, including the Scottish Rural Leadership Programme.

She has presented on leadership and entrepreneurial development in rural businesses worldwide, and is a member of the International Association of Programmes for Agriculture and Rural Leaders.

Professor Mario Caccamo is CEO of NIAB and holds an honorary professorship at the University of East Anglia. A computer scientist by training, Mario has over 20 years’ experience in life science research and big data, including specific projects to apply the latest DNA sequencing technologies and bioinformatics methods to advance scientific understanding of crop genetics and the interaction of agricultural crops with their environment. 

Mario has led the work on the assembly of the first whole-genome release of the wheat reference sequence and was also one of the founding co-chairs of the expert working group within the Wheat Initiative, focused on the deployment of an international Wheat Information System.

In Partnership at Stocks Farm, Suckley, Worcestershire UK with her husband Richard and his father Mark, the Cappers specialise in growing hops and apples. They farm dessert & cider apples and hops. www.stocksfarm.net

Ali’s former career was in Advertising & Marketing. Today, in addition to numerous roles at the farm, her work includes membership of the Boards of Wye Fruit, the British Hop Association, the Norton Cider Growers Association and as Chairman of the UK’s NFU's National Horticulture & Potatoes Board, British Apples & Pears and Wye Hops. Ali is a Nuffield Scholar and a non-executive Director of NFU Mutual.

Jamie Graham is a farmer and land-manager on a mixed holding on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland. The farm is managed as stratified beef and sheep enterprises totalling 160 suckler cows and 1,500 breeding ewes. Other activities managed by Jamie on the holding include renewables, leisure and woodlands.

Before returning home to the farm, Jamie spent 20 years as a climate change entrepreneur and early stage technology investor. This included taking a low carbon finance business from concept to an IPO on London's AIM. After that business, Jamie pursued numerous clean energy and sustainability ventures, as an advisor, angel investor and Cleantech Dealmaker for the Department for International Trade's Global Entrepreneur Programme.

Alongside his work Jamie served as a Board member for Borderline (now part of Scotscare), a charity providing frontline services to homeless Scots in London. He is currently a Director of the Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust and Chairman of the Buchanan Community Hydro Society.

Kelly Hewson-Fisher is Director and Head of Rural Research for Savills UK.

Kelly started life on a diary farm in Lincolnshire and her early career focused on agricultural consultancy across the country. She then spent seven years as an agricultural advisor with Anglian Water, working with farmers to look at collaborative projects to improve water quality.

Kelly moved to the NFU as their National Water Resources Specialist where she focused on working with regulatory and government bodies calling for a fair share of water for agriculture. Her current role with Savills sees her leading an 11-strong team to provide insight and thought leadership for the rural sector across the UK.

David Hill manages a large rural estate as part of a charitable trust on the Oxfordshire/Berkshire border and advises on the management of several smaller farms and estates.

He is a trustee of the River Trust covering the Pang and Kennet river catchments, and during the covid pandemic founded and ran one of the world's first, and largest, online agricultural shows. 

He has completed the Worshipful Company of Farmers’ Challenge of Rural Leadership Course and participated in the OFC Emerging Leaders (now called Inspire) programme in 2019.

Sheena Horner has been involved in agriculture all her life and on returning home to Galloway in Scotland, diversified into farming chillies, and more recently into a range of hardy herbs. It is through the chilli growing business that Sheena developed a network of food and drink businesses throughout Scotland. She is a firm believer in developing skills, collaboration and the circular economy which led her to setting up Food from Farming, a second business to enable her to do this.

She is the regional food and drink coordinator in Dumfries and Galloway and in Ayrshire, as well as being a trustee of The Crichton Trust and the Solway Firth Partnership. An OFC Emerging Leader (now called Inspire) and Founder of Run 1000.

Abi Kay has won several awards for her journalism, including the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Young Leaders accolade and the Bob Davies Memorial Award for raising the profile of Welsh farming. She has a strong background in politics, working for a rural MP in Westminster and as a lobbyist for NFU, prior to joining the Farmers Guardian team. She now works as Deputy Editor at Farmers Weekly. 

David is a principal in David Turner & Co - a firm of Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers which specialises in landed estates and agriculture. Prior to the formation of David Turner & Co, David was a director with Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP. In addition to the compliance services offered by David Turner & Co he has wide-ranging experience in handling one-off assignments – including work for the major banks, government institutions and PLCs. David is a governor at Bishop Burton College in Beverley East Yorkshire, where he is also the chair of the audit committee. He has a small farm in East Anglia which he operates via a manager contractor agreement.

Ben Williams is the Sustainability Manager for Leprino Foods (UK and EU), a leading producer of mozzarella cheese.

Ben is not from an agricultural background, but having grown up in rural Shropshire and returning to education, designed and built farm units in school settings to deliver agricultural and environmental education to pupils with complex and differing needs.

After a move to AHDB, Ben oversaw the knowledge transfer function, undertaking R&D and supporting farmer adoption in the UK pork sector. Projects focused on efficiency, data systems, innovation and sustainable production. In 2021, Ben joined Leprino to support the business, its supplier farmers and customers to deliver a more sustainable dairy supply chain.