Essex farmer becomes one of NFU's youngest presidents

He was more of a farmer's farmer - seriously involved in the professional and technical aspects of the job and getting the most out of his crops on the family farm at Fordham, near Colchester.

All that changed radically over the next decade or so after he got his first taste of policy-making and lobbying work at the National Farmers' Union (NFU).

Since then, he has flown through the ranks to become one of its youngest leaders.

This week, the 41-year-old dad-of-two was elected unopposed to head up the organisation as its president - succeeding Minette Batters, who held the post for six years.

The fourth generation farmer, based at Fletchers Farm, describes his new job as "very exciting" - but a big challenge. "It's a wonderful opportunity and it's real privilege," he says.

He began his ascent back in 2014 when he joined the NFU combinable crops board - then under the leadership of Cornish farmer Mike Hambly. Later he would become vice president, then deputy to Minette.

But although in recent years he admits he has held the ambition to become president, it was not something he would have even dreamed of back in the early 2010s.

"I never had any interest in politics or anything like that so in that respect there's never been a career plan," he said.

"Now I realise the impact that political decisions have on our industry."

Tom has two young children - Harry, six, and Pippa, four, with wife Emily. He hopes that one day his children will have the opportunity to farm "if they want to".

The family - which includes his parents, David and Alison - runs an 800ha arable farm operation.

Five years ago the Bradshaws took on a farm manager so that Tom could devote more time to his NFU duties - but "you need to have that lived experience", he believes.

By 2018 he was national crops board chairman. The next gear-change was when he was elected vice president - a role he held for two years before securing the second most important spot among the elected posts as deputy - again, a two-year role.

Now he is convinced that politics will have a significant impact on his life as a farmer. Since the 1947 Agriculture Act, politics has been shaping the farming industry in profound ways, he explains.

"I think it (politics) has an incredible influence on what we can do," he says.

Since being elected he has received "overwhelming" support, but "we have got to get on and do the job", he says. "My absolute core focus is to make sure we are connected with our membership of 46,000."

But out there on farms, the industry is divided and the atmosphere is febrile, he acknowledges. Farmer protests are breaking out across Europe and have reached Wales.

The role of the NFU is to mitigate some of the decisions politicians make, he believes. But "it should be a partnership working out what's best for farming and the wider country."

As well as being at the sharp end of climate change, the industry has absorbed a succession of shocks in recent years - Brexit, Covid and the Ukraine war among them.

It has been beset by these "huge crises", says Tom, from empty supermarket shelves to huge increased in fertiliser and gas prices.

"I think we have seen a hugely volatile agricultural sector," he says. This is having a massive effect on the sector as the risks get higher and the rewards less appealing.

This is against a backdrop of a rising population of nearly 70m to feed. Some believe that the answer is to undercut British produce with what the NFU complains is often food made to lower standards and the NFU has been left seething by some of the post-Brexit trade deals being cut.

"I think we have got an industry devoid of confidence to invest in the future," he says.

But a growing acknowledgement of the importance of UK food security may be having an impact on how the story develops. This is backed by the NFU's own surveys and studies which suggest that the public is very much behind British produce.

"I think we are starting to see food rise up through the political agenda. We are told DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is now focused on food, economic growth and the environment," he says.

There are other areas that need addressing too, he believes, such as the maintenance of UK waterways and flooding issues on farms.

As a general election looms, the rural vote is seen as one of the key prizes by parties vying to grab the keys of Number 10.

The next six months will be "absolutely crucial", he believes. It's a "really exciting time" but the industry is "under huge pressure", he says.

"We have got overwhelming public support at the moment," he says. 

"I do think this is an area in the election which is really competitive - the ability to produce British food for the British consumer.

"Pressure from the public is a thing that will begin to shift the dial."