Working smarter - Not just harder

This year’s Joint Venture Farming Group Conference will encourage producers to "think outside the box" in order to progress in the current harsh economic climate.

The event will be held on Thursday 11 February at Greetham Valley Hotel, Golf and Conference Centre, Greetham, Rutland from 9.15am and costs just £25 per delegate.

With an interesting and thought-provoking programme, the event will focus on the challenges facing arable farming businesses. This year’s conference will be chaired by Essex farmer and agricultural journalist, Guy Smith, and speakers will include Richard Beldam, chairman of Openfield and Nick Padwick, farm manager of the Co-operative Farms’ Stoughton Estate, Leicestershire.

JVFG’s consultant on benchmarking, Jamie Gwatkin, said: "We have seen much volatility in cereal prices since the 2009 harvest, so making our businesses more efficient is vital as margins are again under pressure. The outlook for marketing the 2010 crop does not seem buoyant, either, and with fixed costs rising, I’d advise growers to look very carefully at the costs they can control."

Jamie Gwatkin will unveil the JVFG 2009 results which are brought together under the traffic light benchmarking system. He adds: "This year’s conference will see a change of emphasis as I’m going to use members’ own experiences and figures to highlight how operational costs can be improved. Every business can benefit in some way from close examination of working practices and cost control, so this year’s JVFG Conference is a must for anyone wanting to improve business performance."

The conference will also hear from Martin Law of Hardcastle Burton accountants on the impact of tax on farm cashflows and how tax planning can help. Ben Makowiecki of HSBC Agriculture will look as cost controls in a volatile market and Simon Parrington of Soyl Ltd will speak on precision farming.

Places at the conference can be booked online at www.jvfg.co.uk. Places are charged at £25 each to cover administration and lunch. The conference will start at 9.15am with coffee and registration and will end at 3.10pm.