Cereals delivers innovation to farmers of the future
Research and practical innovation will be the key to profitable farming post-Brexit , and the Cereals event had plenty of both on offer .
C elebrating the 40th anniversary of the event , director Jon Day said it was fantastic to see the 20,000 visitors making the most of so many new features introduced this year . “ Bringing the industry together to exchange ideas and see new technology in action is always important , but even more so in these politically uncertain times ,” he explained .
“ Like the farming industry , Cereals is changing , and we ’ re really excited to be working together with Comexposium , which runs the SIMA event in Paris , to make next year ’ s event even more valuable to visitors and exhibitors alike . We ’ ve received strong feedback on this year ’ s event and will be working closely with key players - from farmers to multi-national companies – who have expressed such a strong desire to help the show develop and move forward ,” he added . “ Together , with greater industry involvement and extensive collaboration , Cereals 2018 will be the mustattend event that the UK market needs .”
In the opening forum debate sponsored by De Lacy Executive , industry leaders considered what the future holds for British agriculture as 2020 approaches . “ We need to invest in the industry to make it innovative and profitable in the next five years ,” said NFU president Meurig Raymond .
UK farming policy should be targeted at helping farmers to improve efficiencies in the transition period between now and 2020 – but the level of support required after that would depend on the success of trade negotiations , added Mr Raymond . “ The trade deal is the most important issue – if we end up with a fair trade deal we can be very optimistic .”
Defra minister George Eustice visited the event , and reaffirmed the Government ’ s commitment to keep the total agricultural budget the same for the next Parliament . Transitioning to a better policy would include greater focus on managing risk , knowledge transfer , research and development , and supporting investment on farms to improve productivity , he said .
“ I ’ ve seen some very interesting work today – the cereals sector is very innovative , and events like this have a crucial function to showcase some of the new varieties and techniques to farmers .” By bringing the whole industry , including research bodies together , there was huge opportunity to increase profits in a sustainable , environmentally friendly way , he added .
Helping dispense technological advances at the farm gate was Rothamsted Research ’ s new science strategy , which is not just about research and development , but the way it is delivered on the ground . “ We need to look ahead at what agriculture needs in the next 10 years ,” said director Achim Dobermann . “ There is an opportunity to become policy innovators in this country , if the government is prepared to take advantage of the scientific expertise we have .”
Research institutes needed to work more
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closely with key partners and have more coordinated investment , added Prof Dobermann . “ If we don ’ t do all of this we won ’ t catch up with the efficiency gains we need .”
Efficiency was also order of the day in the Sprays and Sprayers arena , which saw 50 of the latest self-propelled , mounted , trailed and specialist sprayers put through their paces . With lighter kit , precision nozzles , larger capacity tanks and improved fuel efficiency , farmers had plenty of options to consider .
Syngenta , which sponsored the arena , also announced the winner of the Farm Sprayer Operator of the year at the event . Claiming top honours from over 100 entries was BASIS qualified Stuart Woods from GH Dean & Co , Sittingbourne , Kent . “ Stuart has proved a worthy winner by demonstrating that best practice can deliver efficient , cost effective and , above all , safe crop spraying ,” said Syngenta application specialist James Thomas . “ He has consistently shown outstanding skills and works to very high standards to achieve the best possible results .”
Cutting edge technology rubbed shoulders with good old-fashioned husbandry at the event , with visitors just as keen to get below ground and discuss soil health in the Soil Pit - sponsored by NIAB TAG - as they were to explore precision equipment in the Drone Zone . New cereal variety plots grew alongside colourful niche crops and wildflower mixes , with working machinery demonstrations ranging from Brock ’ s enormous 24m roller to the precise Anatis robotic weeder . www . farmingmonthly . co . uk July 2017 | Farming Monthly | 29