THE FUTURE WILL BE VERY DIFFERENT
THE FUTURE WILL BE VERY DIFFERENT
This years National Farm Management Conference
The Future Will Be Different takes place in Peterborough
on Nov 18 and 19. David Cousins summarises
what will be discussed
Sunday Nov 18
THE FUTURE WILL BE DIFFERENT
2.05pm Re-orientating UK agriculture – John McInerney, University of Exeter. Inescapable economic forces are causing a shift to demand-driven agriculture; what are the alternatives facing farmers in the light of this?
2.45pm Reclaiming the moral high ground – Guy Smith, Essex farmer and journalist.
Farmers must develop new strategies and thinking to promote themselves as producers of human food, humane keepers of livestock and good stewards of the countryside and wildlife.
POLITICAL PRESSURES FOR CHANGE
4.10pm The mid-term review of Agenda 2000: a time for change – Prof Alan Swinbank, director of the Centre for Agricultural Strategy, University of Reading.
Will the mid-term Agenda 2000 review prompt further policy changes?
Mon Nov 19
CHANGING THE EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE
9am An enlarged EU: opportunities and threats – Dr Graham Dalton, lecturer at Aberdeen University, ex-SAC chief economist and eastern Europe consultant. What is the likely impact of new EU members on their markets and ours?
9.35am East European success – William England, MD of Eurofarms, Czech Rep.
How this farming company has built up a substantial farming business in the Czech Republic despite bureaucratic hurdles.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDING
11.10am An introduction to the England Rural Development Programme and case studies of successful grant applicants – Emma Powlett/David Sillett, DEFRA.
MAKING THE DIFFERENCE – CHANGES FOR SUCCESS
1.40pm Agricultural systems, people and change – Prof Gareth Edwards-Jones, University of Wales.
Why agricultural systems change and what changes we may see in the future. How society judges whether changes in agricultural practice are good or bad.
2.15pm Managers: the next generation – Robin Malim, group chairman of Velcourt Group. Attracting and training a new generation of farm managers and the skills they will need to succeed.
The conference is sponsored by AMC, JCB Farm Finance, Barclays, Syngenta, Farmplan, Lloyds TSB, Bidwells and PricewaterhouseCooper.
IAgrM/BIAC CONFERENCE
Venue: Peterborough Moat House Hotel, Thorpe Wood, Peterborough PE3 6SG. This is close to the A1 and A47 trunk roads.
Cost: £155 for IAgrM/BIAC members, £177 for all others. This includes conference fees, lunch on both days and dinner on the Sunday but not accommodation.
To book a place contact David Ansell, IAgrM, on 0118-931 6578, fax 0118-975 6467 or e-mail d.j.ansell@reading.ac.uk.