Alan Derryman, a beef and sheep farmer from Sidbury in East Devon has been elected as a British Wool board member for the English South Western region for a three-year term, beginning on April 1.

Alan Derryman

As well as farming 900 New Zealand Romney ewes and 80 Stabiliser suckler cows, Derryman has spent 25 years as a shearing contractor covering Devon and West Dorset as well as spending time shearing in New Zealand and Australia.

He is also the senior shearing instructor for Southern England, a role he has held for 30 years and a past chairman of the National Sheep Association in the South West.

On notification of the election results, Derryman said: “I am delighted to have been elected board member for the English South Western region and would like to thank all those that voted for me.

“I look forward to representing your best interests as sheep farmers in the South West and my connection with British Wool over many years means I already have a good understanding of how the organisation operates.”

British Wool is a farmers’ organisation working on behalf of around 35,000 registered wool producers.

British Wool runs day-to-day operations from its headquarters in Bradford, with small regional offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and country offices in Japan and China.