Minette Batters DL
Minette Batters was the first woman to be elected President of the National Farmers’ Union in 113yrs.
Our Barford Park Farm Businesses
Barford Park Barn is a stunning venue for weddings, celebrations and events. We allow you two days to decorate the barn how you wish, we don’t charge corkage and you’re free to use your own suppliers.
Trafalgar Gardens Cottages: offers accommodation for up to 17 people in the most stunning location; where the mill pond and birdsong are all you hear.
Trafalgar Garden Flowers: we specialise in ‘pick your own flowers’ and encourage people to bring a picnic and enjoy the magical experience of this historic walled garden; formerly the kitchen garden to Trafalgar House.
Trafalgar
Gardens
Flowers
Nestled at the southerly end of Barford Park Farm, Trafalgar Flower Garden is a historic walled garden and the former kitchen garden to Trafalgar House. We are open 3 days a week between April and October for people to pick their own flowers, alternatively you can give us a call and we can pick the flowers for you to collect.
We start the season with delights such as British tulips, daffodils, anenomes and peonies and then as the summer approaches, the vibrant colour continues with alliums, sweet peas, gypsophila, scabious, roses, delphiniums, zinnias, daylias as well as a stunning display of sunflowers.
We welcome you to come and relax in the garden with plenty of tables to bring and enjoy a picnic when the sun is shining, we also have a toilet with disabled access on site.
About Minette Batters DL
Minette Batters was the first woman to be elected President of the National Farmers’ Union in 113yrs.
She’s represented the interests of over 46,000 farming businesses across England and Wales through unprecedented times, navigating the challenges of Brexit, Covid 19 and the war in Ukraine. During this time she worked with four Prime Ministers – three of them in one year and six Defra secretaries of State. She stood down from the post in February 2024. She’s an ambassador for Farm Africa and a passionate advocate and fundraiser for the Junior Diabetic Research Foundation. She’s run in four marathons, raising over £100,000 for charity.
In 2021 Minette was made a Deputy Lieutenant to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. In July 2024 she was made a Cross Bench Peer in the House of Lords.
Campaigning about the importance of British food and farming and its ability to achieve Net Zero has been a key driver for Minette. In 2020 she led the NFU on one of the most successful campaigns ever seen, bringing together a coalition of chefs, including Jamie Oliver, farmers, environmentalists, consumer groups and animal welfare experts – resulting in over one million people signing the NFU food standards petition.
For more information, contact Minette’s team:
Telephone: 07379 617531
'Harvest'
Minette Batters' farming memoir coming in 2026
Ebury Press has won a four-way auction to Harvest, an exploration of British farming’s past, present and future from Minette Batters.
Robyn Drury, publishing director for Ebury Press, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Euan Thorneycroft at AM Heath, following a bidding war between four publishers.
Batters is a farmer, cross-bench peer, columnist and former president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales. In Harvest, Batters blends memoir and polemic as she takes the reader on a journey through 50 years of farming, from growing up as a young girl on her father’s farm, then taking it over after realising she loved life on the land, to becoming one of the industry’s most significant voices as union president.
Drury said: “This wonderful book is both powerful polemic and a heartfelt love letter to the farming community that Minette has been part of for her whole life. She is passionate about teaching people more about how vital agriculture is to our economy, communities and health; as we’ve seen with the recent farming protests, the industry continues to be an important part of our news agenda, and there is no one better suited to telling this story of Britain’s land.”
Batters said: “I’m a fifth generation tenant farmer. ‘You’ll never command the same respect as a man’ – so, I was told shortly after I became the first woman to lead the National Farmers’ Union in 118 years.
“Failure was not an option; this story is about turning my life around, following a dream and confronting fear. It’s about farming life and loss; learning lessons the hard way. From my farm in Wiltshire to the politics in Westminster – this book is written for, and because of, the farmers I represented. They touched my life. I hope in a small way I will have touched theirs too.”
Ebury Press will publish Harvest in hardback, audio and e-book in May 2026.