Industry leaders scope out opportunities and threats at 2007 Agrovista Conference

Over 180 industry delegates attended the Agrovista Conference this week at Oxford to hear industry leaders' debate the theme 'British Agriculture – A Healthy Future'.

The scale and scope of the conference reflects Agrovista's focus on building a business that partners primary producers in the UK to respond profitably to end-market requirements. "The need for British Farmers to deliver to new and evolving markets has never been more opportune, whether that is servicing the food, energy, leisure or commodity markets," James Robertson, Managing Director of Agrovista UK said. "But the challenge for British farmers is to keep abreast of changing demands and respond accordingly.

"As part of a global business we take our position in the UK market very seriously and recognise the importance of helping farmers adapt their businesses here and now to market opportunities," he added.

And it's not all corporate hype! Agrovista has already invested in a biofuels industry partnership, North East Biofuels, which will help growers to grow, yield and contract-sell a bio-energy crop. "We have invested in a new fruit team, to complement the existing vegetable specialists to work with growers and the end-market to extend the seasonal availability of British produce on the retailer's and wholesalers' shelves," he notes. "Waste and water are two potential areas of threat facing the industry and to pre-empt the impact of these issues with our customers, we have been very proactive in working with farmers and environmental groups to develop workable and economic waste and water management solutions."

James Paice MP, Shadow Secretary for Agriculture, presented the case for some meaty changes to the CAP in his presentation on 'The role of Government in British Agriculture'. His arguments were that the role focused on support and encouragement and the Conservative's belief that subsidy payments should be compulsory co-financed by the Governments of all EU member states.

He added that his party felt very strongly that it is the Government's role to ensure that England competes on an equal footing with other EU states and that in our quest as a nation to comply with regulation we are too quick to ask "how we implement legislation rather than whether we should!"

Mr Paice also felt very strongly that it was the Government's role to provide consumers with factual information about food, "so that the UK [farmers] can compete by changes to food labelling which doesn't allow consumers to be deceived about [issues like] country of origin."

Peter Kendall, NFU President presented his case for science's role in meeting the challenges of population increase, new markets and tackling climate change. "It is the application of science which has allowed my family to turn very difficult land into workable productive arable land, and it is science and technologies which will help us produce more from less [land] and leave a greener and softer environmental footprint," he said.

Adding to the debate on potential threats and opportunities on the horizon, John Chapple a Director with China-based Sino Analytica presented his views on the mighty China and what impact she may have on UK farming.

Mr Chapple sees China as a net opportunity for UK farming because of the needs of its burgeoning population of 750 million people, its increase in disposable income and the Chinese agriculture's need for good quality technical advice and products.

"The Chinese are evolving a western lifestyle where eating out, consumption of dairy produce and the introduction of hypermarkets like Wal-Mart and Carrefour are driving [increased and new] market demand," he said. "As diets change, China will become a net importer of food. However, the Chinese diet is based on fresh produce, so the food opportunities will be limited to luxury items.

"China has some big issues like water and land shortages and very heavy pest pressure because they crop up to three times a year on the same land," he explained. "Also, all the land is owned by the Government, so there is no incentive to invest in improving it, consequently organic matter is very low."

Mr Chapple went on to explain that there are potential threats like gluts of crops, but that farms were so small and the industry so fragmented that these were unlikely to pose significant competition to UK producers.

"China will become the biggest net importer in the world, so it is something that does offer UK farming opportunities."

The biofuels debate was aired at the Conference when John Reynolds, Chairman of Tees Valley Biofuels discussed the investment underway in the UK for building biodiesel and bioethanol plants. He argued that "the limiting factor at present is the supply chain; [the petroleum] companies like Shell and BP control the oil in the ground right the way through the chain to the forecourt," he said. "Through initiatives like North East Biofuels we are working to develop effective supply chains and to engage these companies in understanding and engaging with them."

In the current economic climate where the environment and energy and food security are such important political 'hot potatoes' all of the speakers and delegates agreed that, although it won't be easy, there is more opportunity for British agriculture than there has been for well over a decade. And if we play it right, that opportunity could bring about significant value back into the industry.