Rosey Dunn is only the second woman in the North-East to be chairman of a branch of the National Farmers' Union. Womens Editor Christen Pears meets her.

"SOMETHING'S mooing and I don't like it," says Rosey Dunn, standing up and looking out of the window to check what's happening. Despite the noise, everything seems to be in order and she sits back down again.

Running a busy farm, the 39-year-old has to have an eye for everything, particularly as she's just been appointed chairman of the newly-formed York and East Riding branch of the NFU.

Rosey, who is a tenant farmer at Stockton-on-the-Forest, near York, juggles the responsibilities of motherhood with running a mixed farm alongside her husband, Alisdair, and was recently named the North-East's Farming Woman of the Year in the NFU President's Awards. The prestigious award, which is sponsored by Safeway and Farmers Guardian, aims to raise the profile of women who play a pivotal role on the farm. The were particularly impressed by Rosey's enthusiasm and described her as an "outstanding ambassador for the farming industry".

She says: "I don't think it's that unusual to see women taking on an active role in farming any more. They've always been a key part, looking after the home and helping out as and when needed, but now they tend to have more prominent roles.

"Because of what's happening in the industry, a lot of people are having to take on a second job to make ends meet, so often the wife is left at home running things on the farm while the husband goes out to work."

This is the case for Rosey. For the last four to five years, Alisdair has been driving lorries during the winter months to supplement their income, leaving Rosey in sole charge of the farm.

"He's here to help at either end of the day but most of the time, it's just me. I really enjoy the challenge but Alisdair is still very much involved. It's always been a his and hers kind of business with both of us taking equal roles."

Rosey caught the farming bug as a girl growing up in the village of West Knapton, near Malton, where her uncle ran a farm. She worked on several farms after leaving school and was a tractor and combine driver when she met farm manager Alisdair.

After they married, they spent a couple of years farming in Cambridgeshire but the flat, bleak fens were no match for the Yorkshire landscape and they returned to the region 15 years ago, taking over a 112-acre farm. They now have 250 breeding ewes and 110 beef cattle and also grow cereals and sugar beet.

"Alisdair and I run the farm on a team basis. He has taught me a lot, and encouraged me in my practical skills and knowledge of the industry. But I do 50 per cent of the paperwork and ensure everyone gets paid. I also have a small hand which helps at lambing time - particularly with difficult births!"

Over the years, she has become more involved with the NFU. At first, she attended meetings when Alisdair was busy but three years ago was invited to join a delegation to the European Parliament in Brussels to ask for a lifting of the ban on British beef.

"I'd never done anything like that before and I think they only asked me because the regular people weren't available. I didn't really know what was expected but I was interested to see how things worked. I had to stand at the front and eyeball a German MEP and explain how we were being affected by the ban. It was pretty intimidating but somehow I managed to get through it."

From there, she started joining committees and hosting school visits at her farm. She has helped promote the Little Red Tractor food label at events across the country and talked to the media on farming issues. For the last two years, she has been vice chairman of the NFU York County branch and earlier this year was appointed chairman of the new York and East Riding branch.

It's a huge amount of work and she deals with a vast array of issues in an industry that is still coming to terms with the devastation caused by foot-and-mouth disease.

"It would be good to think everyone has put foot-and-mouth behind them but people are still feeling the effects. It was a terrible thing to have to go through and it was far worse for some than others.

"It only came as close as Thirsk, about 30 miles away. We were inside the red box so were subject to movement restrictions. We couldn't move any animals for a month but we were lucky compared to some people. I can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for them but we do have to move on and there are plenty of other challenges.

"At the moment, the big thing is the mid-term review which is proposing big changes to farming subsidies. That could have an enormous impact. Another major change will be the enlargement of the European Union because all the former Eastern Bloc countries have much cheaper production costs."

Although she admits it isn't easy, she's still passionate about farming and is thrilled that her 16-year-old son James is interested in agriculture and is keen to help out on the farm.

"The industry has had a lot of problems over the last few years and I'm sure there are plenty more lined up but it's still a wonderful career if you're prepared for the challenge."