AGRICULTURE Secretary Nick Brown had a face-to-face meeting with leaders of the farming industry in the Scarborough and Whitby area last Friday when they explained to him the plight of many farmers in the Scarborough and Ryedale area.

He met Helen Swiers, chairman of the North Riding branch of the National farmers Union, Martin Wood, the Scarborough branch chairman and his deputy, Ian Burnett, and Colin Wilkinson, chairman of the Whitby NFU at The Elms, West Ayton, home of the Pigg family.

Mr Wood, who farms with his family at Hutton Buscel, said: "Mr Brown listened intently to what we had to say about the state of the industry. I thought we got a lot of points across to him covering a wide range of farming issues.