A HEYSHAM farmer has been called up to help steer agriculture through changing times.

Jim Birkett, 57, has been elected as county chairman of the National Farmers' Union for a second time.

Mr Birkett, who farms 260 acres of land in Heysham with his brother Roger, will hold the office for the next two years.

"Doing this job before has made me appreciate what other NFU members go through on a daily basis and I think I have a good understanding of how they want this organisation to help them through farming's current period of uncertainty," says Mr Birkett.

"As county chairman I now have a seat on the NFU's national council which I am really looking forward to.

"While one council member cannot change the world, he can influence the opinion of others and Lancashire members can be assured that I shall be making their voices heard at the highest levels."

Mr Birkett will be taking the reigns as Lancashire farmers face the implementation problems of the European Union's Single Farm Payment and the need for a sensible solution to bovine TB.

Mr Birkett, who has been married to his wife Unity for 25 years, has a mixed dairy, beef and sheep farm.

He was officially inaugurated as Lancashire county chairman at the NFU's county luncheon which took place at the Crofters Hotel in Garstang last Tuesday.