Farming conference at a time of industry change
WEST Country farmers will be joining their national counterparts in Birmingham today for the start of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Conference, at a time of significant change and uncertainty for the industry.
One of the biggest dates in the farming calendar, the two-day event at the International Conference Centre (ICC) will set out the organisation’s priorities for the coming year under the theme ‘British Food: What Plan For The Future?’, as well as discussing in detail the key challenges and opportunities facing food producers and land managers.
With 2024 set to be a general election year, delegates will hear from the major political parties as they outline their strategies for the future of food production in the UK.
Minette Batters, president of the NFU and a Wiltshire farmer, will open today’s proceedings with a scene-setting address.
Speaking ahead of this year’s conference, which will see her step down from the top role after ten years serving as an NFU office holder, she said: “It seems as if a decade as an NFU office holder has passed by with the blink of an eye. I can hardly believe that we are standing at the outset of my final NFU Conference. But who could have predicted the disruption and change that a decade would bring?
“From Brexit to Covid, and the consequences of climate change and tragic armed conflict, our businesses have coursed an unpredictable and volatile path.
“These events may have made our jobs harder, but they have ensured that those in power can no longer take food production for granted.”
Ms Batters was elected as president in 2018, becoming the NFU’s first female leader since the organisation was formed in 1908.
An arable and livestock farmer, she was twice re-elected, most recently in February 2022, and has now come to the end of her third and final two-year term. Prior to that, Ms Batters was deputy president from 2014 to 2018.
She continued: “2024 is set to be a year of elections. As farmers and growers know only too well, elections are important – they set the approach for governments, which have a profound impact on farming livelihoods and food security. It seems timely to focus the 2024 NFU Conference on politicians’ plans for British food.
“Over the next two days I am expecting to hear how our politicians and regulators plan to secure a vibrant and profitable future for food production across the UK. They must deliver affordable, safe, and wholesome food at all price points for all UK citizens. They must deliver policies that allow farmers and growers to continue to steward the countryside, where food production and environmental care go hand-inhand.
“Finally, the retailers and those in the food chain must make sure fairer dealing builds a resilient financial partnership with UK farming.”
Conference proceedings will get under way today with a political keynote address, during which delegates will be hoping to hear how celebrations of food and farming hosted by the current leaders will be turned into Government-wide action. Following on from this will be Jack Bobo, director of the University of Nottingham’s Food Systems Institute, who will look at British food systems in a global context.
The afternoon sessions will focus on the future of British food, with panellists from the Food Standards Agency, UK Hospitality and the Institute of Grocery Distribution in conversation with NFU deputy president, Tom Bradshaw.
The focus will then shift to regulation and environment as Alan Lovell, chair of the Environment Agency, explains his vision for the agency as a modern regulator, and how an advice-led approach may shift the dynamic between business and agency to be one of “partnership not antagonism”.
Tomorrow’s programme will begin with a discussion on ‘What the countryside thinks: the political landscape in Britain’s rural seats’ as Joe Twyman, co-founder and director of the public opinion consultancy Deltapoll, examines what opinion polling can tell us about the public’s attitude to food, farming, and the environment.
Keeping to the theme of a general election, Sky TV’s political anchor Sophy Ridge will then chair hustings with representatives from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties.
Mrs Batters said: “This will be their chance to set out their plans for the next Parliament. Will we see firm funding commitments? What weight for food production? Or perhaps a new relationship with the EU, our nearest and largest trading partner?”
The conference will close with a ‘views from the farm’ session. Panellists from across the UK will be sharing their personal stories as well as their reaction to what they’ve heard at the conference. Among the speakers will be Bridget Christensen, an arable, dairy and poultry farmer from Steanbow Farms near Shepton Mallet in Somerset, and Luke Thomas, who farms in partnership with his parents at Treguddick Farm near Launceston in Cornwall.
2024 is set to be a year of elections. As farmers and growers know only too well, elections are important MINETTE BATTERS