Sir Ben defended his methods

Sir Ben announced on Monday that he will not be seeking re-election in February.

He has been president for six years - a period which has included the BSE scare, the foot-and-mouth epidemic and a difficult economic climate.

Sir Ben says he has decided to hand over to a new team to allow them to handle the future challenges of reform to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The farmer from Easingwold, North Yorkshire, said: "I have been enormously proud to have served as president. It has been a testing and demanding time.

'Challenges'

"But I believe we are now reaching a watershed. The hard-won reforms to the CAP should soon start to deliver benefits. The weakening of the pound is bringing relief to some sectors.

"And the NFU itself has undergone the radical changes necessary to make it an organisation fit to fight for farmers' interests into the 21st century.

"There are still enormous challenges ahead. But I believe it is now time for me to stand aside and allow council to select a new person to stamp his or her mark on the future."

Foot-and-mouth plunged farming into crisis

The deputy president Tim Bennett and the vice president Michael Paske are tipped as the two most likely successors.

Sir Ben has been criticised for being too close to the government and a future leader may choose a more militant approach.

Sarah Mukherjee, the BBC's environment correspondent, said Sir Ben defended his approach to the farming crisis by saying more could be achieved by negotiating than confrontation.

She added: "Sir Ben took over the NFU presidency 1998 and since then, it's been virtually lurching from crisis to crisis.

"And that partly could be the reason why he's decided to step down now. It's been a tough job."

'Difficult task'

Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, paid tribute to his leadship.

She said: "The last few years have been difficult for farmers, in many ways. Ben Gill always stood up for his members.

"The NFU has been constantly involved, as has Ben personally, in trying to represent the interests of farmers."

Sir Ben was previously deputy president, vice president and livestock chairman of the NFU.

He read agriculture at Cambridge and spent three years teaching farming in Uganda before returning home in 1978, to the 360-acre mixed farm in Yorkshire.