Day one at the NFU Conference 2016

Backing the Future of British Farming – that’s the theme of this year’s NFU Conference at the ICC in Birmingham (February 23-24).

NFU President Meurig Raymond will set the scene with an opening address from 10.15am.

Delegates will then get an idea of the sort of legislative framework farmers can expect over the coming year when Defra Secretary of State Elizabeth Truss takes the stand (from 10.45am).

Then it’s on to the farming bottom line.

The Global Markets Session (11.45am – 12.45pm) looks at the external factors which have had such dismal impacts on many domestic farming sectors in recent times. NFU Vice President Guy Smith chairs a session featuring expertise from the European Commission’s Head of Unit for the Americas, Jean-Marc Trarieux, and conference favourite Mark Berrisford-Smith, Head of Economics at HSBC.

The Markets Session hears from David Hughes, Professor of Food Marketing at Imperial College London; Connor McVeigh, UK Supply Chain Director at McDonalds and Damian Storie, Head of Fresh Meat Development at Bidvest Foodservice UK. NFU Deputy President Minette Batters chairs.

The traditional Commodity Breakouts (4pm-5.30pm) round off a busy first day:

• Dairy: Beyond Crisis - lessons learned and moving forward

• Livestock: Policy, problems and proactive solutions

• Combinable Crops: Looking forward

• Horticulture and Potatoes: Building better supply chains and enabling growth

• Poultry: Backing British poultry

• Sugar: A sweet future

See more information on the NFU Conference 2016 at our dedicated Shows & Events page.