The 2024 Farming Conference - Press Release

FARMING CONFERENCE RETURNS TO SUFFOLK

The well-renowned Farming Conference will return on 29 February to Trinity Park Events Centre near Ipswich with the theme of ’How to Thrive, Not Just Survive’.

The headline guest speaker is Henry Dimbleby MBE, co-founder and former chief executive of Leon fast food restaurants. Henry was the lead non-executive board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, serving under Michael Gove, Theresa Villiers, George Eustice, Ranil Jayawardene and Therese Coffey.

Organised by national farming cooperative Fram Farmers, the Suffolk Agricultural Association (SAA), and specialist accountancy firm Scrutton Bland, the Farming Conference will bring together a host of industry experts sharing their experiences and solutions.

With Fram Farmers’ diverse membership base in East Anglia the Northwest, and the South, the Conference offers an opportunity for these members to share knowledge and exchange ideas with fellow farmers and industry professionals, both in person and online.

Fram Farmers CEO Andrew Knowles believes it is important to bring fresh information to the agricultural community to arm farmers with the right tools to make changes for the better.

“We are delighted to once again be bringing this event to Suffolk, and to have partnered with SAA and Scrutton Bland to bring farmers together and support them in achieving high productivity alongside a profitable farm business,” says Andrew.

The biannual event will be introduced by Bill Baker, Suffolk Agricultural Association chairman and second-generation farmer, along with other experts from across the sector sharing their experiences and solutions based on the conference themes, finance, talent and training and digital innovations.

Leading the topic of finance will be Nick Banks, partner at Scrutton Bland, who specialises in advising owner-managed and family businesses, professional partnerships, and farming clients.

With a general election predicted for the spring of 2024, Nick will be accompanied by Paul Harris, private client tax partner at Scrutton Bland, who will compare and discuss ‘Conservative vs Labour’.

Grace O'Dwyer, deputy head of agriculture at HSBC will cover a range of ‘farming issues’ and ways to tackle them, whilst chief economist and global strategist at ADM, Marc Ostwald, will speak about ‘global macroeconomics’.

The theme of talent and training will be led by Stephen Jacob, chief executive officer at TIAH and will include a ‘labour review’ from Anthony Gardiner, communications director at G’s Fresh.

Advice on ‘how to attract and retain staff’ will come from Tom and Karen Halton of Halton Farms Ltd, and Harper Adams University graduate Elizabeth Tree will talk about ‘what are we looking for?’ when finding new talent.

The final topic of digital innovations will be chaired by Belinda Clarke, director of Agri-TechE and will welcome guest speaker James Forrest of RH Forrest and Co who will present ‘too much data, not enough information’.

If too much information is weighing you down, Kevin Gooding, chief executive officer at Diometer, will provide ‘solutions to data overload’.

Finally, Andrew Williams, former farm manager at Home Farm Nacton, will round off the Conference by sharing his experience of ‘automation on-farm’ followed by a concluding talk from Wendy Houston, Fram Farmers chairman.

Although in-person tickets to the event have now sold out, free online tickets are available and accessible to all who wish to view the livestreamed event.

If you wish to watch the livestream for the 2024 Farming Conference please click the link HERE