Farming should sit at the core of economic thinking, with food production having an equal footing with the environment in government policy, according to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).
The status of farming in the wider economy will be a key theme in the agenda of the NFU’s annual conference next week as agriculture looks at the challenge of producing more while impacting less.
The two-day conference opens at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on Monday with an opening address from NFU president Peter Kendall.
Key speakers at this year’s event include Defra Secretary of State Hilary Benn, World Trade Organisation deputy director general Dr Harsha Vardhana Singh and Nick Herbert, shadow Secretary of State for Defra.
With the current economic crisis remaining top of the news agenda, the conference will host Professor Charles Bean, deputy governor of the Bank of England, and head of the economics department at Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH, Dr Klaus-Dieter Schumacher.
This year will also see the unveiling of the new NFU logo, which will mark the end of the centenary celebrations for the organisation and take it forward with one voice for coming generations of English and Welsh farmers and growers.
This year those not able to attend the conference will be able to access the action through live web streaming.
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