AT 5.30am most of us are tucked up under the duvet deep in the land of nod.

But for Preston farmer David Clarke of Seamark Farm, Haighton,his long working day is just beginning.

And life for the 54-year-old farmer isn't getting any less hectic as he has just taken the reigns of chairman of the Lancashire branch of the National Farmer's Union.

Accompanied by his wife Sheila, 30-year-old son Andrew and his two dogs Jack and Chien, Mr Clarke begins his first jobs of the day - milking the 95 cows and feeding the animals.

With a modest 133 grass acre farm and a flock of 200 sheep from the Yorkshire Dales, who escape the cold winters to reside in their neighbouring milder county, the family team is never short of things to do.

He said: "Once the milking and feeding is done and all the equipment is cleaned we spend the rest of the day looking after the animals, repairing walls and dealing with the general farm maintenance until feeding and milking time starts again at 4.30pm."

But now on top of all his other jobs David has to divide his time to listen to his fellow farmers.

He said: "I am very pleased to become president of the union. We have to stick together. We meet perhaps twice a month to hear each others opinions on what's happening

"A lot of the time we get directives from Brussels which just aren't practical so we discuss how to make them more manageable."

"The burning issue for farmers all over the country at the moment is the question of animal welfare.

"Although public opinion about animal welfare seems directed mostly against MPs, we feel farmers need to look at the conditions of animal transportation - especially loading and unloading them."

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