Summit to debate EU challenges

Arable farmers from across the region are set to be among around 26,000 visitors to the UK’s leading technical arable event which takes place in Lincolnshire this month.
Flooded farmlandFlooded farmland
Flooded farmland

Challenges facing the industry will be addressed during a series of seminars at the event on June 12-13 at Boothby Graffoe.

Agriculture Minister David Heath is scheduled to attend an open forum to discuss how to move British farming forward against a backdrop of European legislation and whether EU red tape is strangling UK agri-science.

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Mr Heath will be joined by fellow speakers Meurig Raymond, deputy president of the National Farmers’ Union, Richard Macdonald, chairman of the Farming Regulation task force, and Professor David Harvey from Newcastle University.

Richard Whitlock, organiser of the event’s Arable Conference, said: “There has been a palpable concern within the industry that EU policy-making is not science-led. The recent restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids highlight this point.”

Mr Whitlock said the debate will be particularly timely if, as expected, the Government’s announcement of its agri-tech strategy happens just ahead of Cereals 2013.

He added: “We are hopeful that the Government’s new vision will address this issue along with a roadmap for public-funded investment into research and development.”

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Across the two-day event, more than 490 leading agricultural companies are expected to attend to share information with visitors about their latest products, from seeds to sprayers, crop varieties to cultivation equipment and fertilisers to finance.

New to this year’s event will be a series of technical seminars on pressing agronomy topics where several experts and farmers will engage in informal and interactive debates with the audience.

Jon Day, the event’s director, said: “We believe these new technical seminars will not only help inform visitors about some of the most important technical challenges that the sector faces, but also allow the audience to trade points of view with some of the best brains in the business.”

The first session on the Wednesday morning will examine the likely damage to soils caused by the deluge in 2012, in particular autumn cultivations, and how to correct it, while the afternoon’s debate will focus on the rising cost of disease protection in wheat.

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On Thursday morning, discussions will revolve around the benefits of GPS to growers and the final seminar on Thursday will explore the benefits of straw burning to control resistant blackgrass.

Tickets for Cereals 2013 cost £23 each or £19 for students. For more information, visit www.cerealsevent.co.uk

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