The organisers of the Cereals event are holding four new webinars aimed at helping farmers address the challenges and opportunities that they face in the coming year.

Four new webinars at the Cereals LIVE Q and A Edition event are being staged on 5 November and each 1.5 hour session is designed to be interactive, offering advice and inspiration. The four sessions are:

Webinar 1: 9.00-10.30am

New era, new challenges, new opportunities chaired by Nigel Padbury at Premium Crops
What impact will Coronavirus, Brexit and new government incentives for public goods have on UK arable farming businesses? Farmers will be asked how they are adjusting their businesses to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead on an increasingly competitive, and environmentally-focussed, global market. The farmers taking part are:

• Paul Temple (East Yorkshire)
• Tim May (Hampshire)
• Oscar Harding (Hertfordshire)
• Antony Pearce (Buckinghamshire)

See also: Devon farmer’s low-cost way to drill high-yielding cereals

Webinar 2: 11.00-12.30am

A healthier environment: A healthier bottom line, chaired by Caroline Drummond, chief executive officer at Leaf (Linking Environment and Farming)
This webinar will focus on questions around how farmers are adapting their businesses to reduce costs of production and increase profitability by improving the health of their soils, boosting natural capital and sequestering carbon.

The farmers taking part are:

• Julian Gold (Herefordshire)
• John Hawkins (Dorset)
• George Hosier (Wiltshire)
• Louis Fell (North East)

Webinar 3: 1.30-3.00pm 

Sustainable crop management, chaired by Fiona Burnett of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)
Farmers are already adjusting their systems to cope with grass weeds and chemical resistance, but with a changing climate is delayed drilling becoming too great a risk? The webinar will take a look at how farming businesses are adopting alternative techniques to adjust to new challenges and how data-based decisions can help combat pests, weeds and diseases.

The farmers taking part are:

• David Miller (Hampshire)
• Andrew Cragg (Kent)
• Tim Pratt (Suffolk)
• John Pawsey (Suffolk)

Session 4: 3.30-5.00pm

New tools for a new era, chaired by Rutland farmer and agri-food consultant Sarah Bell
What tools and technology do you think you need to manage your arable business better? Do you believe research is being carried out in the areas which will return the most value to you? This is an opportunity for you to influence, and quiz four digital and arable technology experts about what tools are being used and developed to improve productivity.

The speakers are:

• Neave Anderson, centre co-ordinator at Farm 491
• Ruth Bastow from Chap (Crop Health and Protection)
• Shamal Mohammed, AgriEpi Centre offers a precision vision – what works, what doesn’t and what’s coming down the line for arable farmers
• Robert Ramsay, Scottish farmer, commercialisation director at Soil Essentials and chairman of Scotland’s Agricultural Science and Technology Group

To take part, farmers need to register on the dedicated web page.

Or you can sign up for individual webinars:  

1. New era, new challenges, new opportunities
2. A healthier environment: A healthier bottom line
3. Sustainable crop management
4. New tools for a new era