FARMERS in Worcestershire will see a new face to the NFU in their area. Sarah Faulkner has been appointed a policy adviser for the West Midlands region with specific responsibilities for the environment.

Sarah is ideally placed to help members meet the environmental challenges posed by the reform of the common agricultural policy as she has a background in countryside land management.

She has also just been awarded the status of chartered environmentalist by the Society for the Environment.

"Now, more than ever before, we have to be conscious that we are dealing with an environmentally-aware public and the focus is very much on the way farmers manage their land," said Sarah. "The changes brought in by the reform of the CAP mean that for the first time support payments are linked to the environmental work carried out by farmers.

"While much of this work has been going on for years, the new world in which we live now means that farmers have no choice but to manage their land in an environmentally sensitive way.

"All of that means that I am joining the NFU at a very challenging time and I am very much looking forward to helping members adapt their businesses to comply with the new legislation."

Sarah grew up in a farming family in mid-Wales and went to school in Welshpool before graduating with a BSc (Hons) in environment management at Silsoe College in Bedfordshire. She went on to work for Elliott Group in Newtown, where she implemented an environmental management system.

Sarah joined Powys County Council in 2000 and worked on implementing environmental projects on their county farms estate. This included phase one surveys of farmland, woodland surveys and assisting farmers with applications to an environment scheme. and some management plans for common land.

Her career progressed in 2002 when she joined Shropshire FWAG as a Farm Conservation Adviser, where she focused on assisting farmers with Countryside Stewardship Scheme Applications and more recently Entry Level and Higher Level Stewardship Agreements.

She also organised conservation training for farmers and other events and worked on several large projects, including successfully reducing diffuse pollution around the north Shropshire meres and mosses.