Poppy Smith
NFU County Adviser (York East)Poppy joined the NFU in 2016 as a bovine TB adviser in the South West. Taking up a secondment with the North team as county adviser in 2019, she relocated to Yorkshire and took on the position permanently five months later.
In her county adviser role, she supports NFU members and manages activity across the county. This includes managing the NFU’s lobbying activities with MPs and a range of external organisations from local authorities, the police and government agencies to non-governmental organisations and relevant commercial bodies.
She also actively supports the NFU group secretaries in the York, Pocklington, Howden, Driffield, Beverley & Holderness, Ryedale and Yorkshire Coast branches and helps drive NFU membership. She works closely with the elected farmer representatives – our county officeholders – including County Chair Andrew Sewell, Council Delegate Angela Kirkwood and the branch chairs, as well as members of both the regional and national commodity boards. Poppy is the North Livestock Board lead, supported by James Airey.
Poppy graduated from Harper Adams in 2008 and has held various positions with agricultural businesses including Shearwell Data, Cogent Breeding and Mole Valley Farmers. Poppy enjoys working with members and is exceptionally proud to represent the 1400 members in the county. Poppy particularly likes how varied the role is – no day is the same! Working with the next generation, be that Young Farmers or school children, and showcasing British agriculture is very rewarding.
Outside of work, Poppy supports her husband with his agricultural engineering business, geographically covering a similar area, and is mum to two children, Digby and Sibyl and their two Labradors, Ivy and Hazel.