THE new president of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society is John Henderson, who takes over for 2002-2003 from Peter Smith.

At a ceremony on the final day of this year's Great Yorkshire Show, Mr Smith handed over the staff of office to his successor.

As president, Mr Henderson is the society's figurehead, representing the organisation at key events, and chairing important committee meetings to plan next year's show.

One of his first public duties will be to attend the society's annual harvest thanksgiving service, which this year takes place on Sunday, October 6, in Ripon Cathedral.

Mr Henderson, who owns and manages an 1,800-acre estate near Skipton, is delighted to have been invited to take on the role.

"It was a wonderful surprise and a great honour," he said. "I am delighted to be the society's president, and applaud the work it has done in trying to help those who are facing a tough time in the rural economy, by helping them look to the future."

One of his farms is in hand, two are share-farmed and five are tenanted. The main enterprises were lamb, beef and milk, but all except one, of 39 acres, had stock slaughtered during last year's outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

As a trustee of the Country Trust, a charity which takes inner-city schoolchildren into the countryside, Mr Henderson is keen to promote the society's education programme.

"One of my particular interests is in trying to bridge the gap between inner city and urban children and the countryside," he said. "The society has always had an excellent education programme and I am particularly interested in all aspects of that."

Mr Henderson, who is married with one daughter, was involved nationally with the Country Land and Business Association for 15 years and remains on its Yorkshire committee and the national council.

He is chairman of the Rural Affairs Advisory Committee to the BBC and also of the Rights of Way Liaison Group, which stands in an advisory capacity to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

Born and bred in Yorkshire, his family has long associations with the Pendle Forest and Craven Hunt, of which he is vice-chairman.

Mr Henderson is a founding director of Rural Generation, a pioneer company based in Northern Ireland, which designs and sells small-scale gasification plants, fired with chip from willow and other biomass products.

He is also a member of the Agricultural Land Tribunal