IFAJ2014 Pre-Congress Tour Guide by BGAJ

Innovations Pre-Congress

31 August â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3 September 2014 . London

Organisers

Adrian Bell

Howard Venters

Gill Norriss

Pre-Congress chairman IFAJ 2014 chairman Director, Whisper.pr

Pre-Congress deputy chair, Director, Shepherd Publishing

Co-ordinator, food chain panel session Guide contributor, Director, Sequitur

Guide contributors (bgaj members)

Cedric Porter

Jamie Day

Tony McDougal

Director, Supply Intelligence and Editor, World Potato Markets

Editor, AgriTrade News

Public relations consultant

Andrea Beddows PR freelancer

Trevor Clarke Editor, The Clench & Liveryman, Worshipful Company of Farriers

Peter Hill

Jane King

Farmpress - UK & Global farm machinery technical & trade news

Editor, Farmers Weekly

Sponsors Principal Sponsor

Day 1 Sponsor

Welcome to Britain Dinner Sponsor

Day 2 Sponsor

Day 3 Sponsor

Food & Drink Sponsor

This issue

Welcome Welcome to London, and to the pre-Congress tour for the

Introduction from the Mayor of London

BBSRC: bioscience for life

London in facts and figures

London: a world-class city

We’ve taken the view that pre-Congress should, as well as

The Farmers Club

providing you with valuable leads, stories and insights into

58th IFAJ Congress. Over the next three days, we’re going to guide you through a programme that brings together heritage alongside innovation, and culture as well as agriculture.

10 Liquid history: The River Thames

the host country’s food and farming industry, also act as an

12 Day 1 – Growing for the future

city of London.

13 British Society of Plant Breeders

It’s not enough that London boasts two thousand years of

14 The Millennium Seed Bank

history. It’s arguably amongst the world’s leading cities, on so

15 The Leckford Estate 16 The City Liveries: their history and role 17 The Groceries Code Adjudicator 18 Day 2 – London food and farming 19 EBLEX

introduction to the United Kingdom; in particular, your host

many fronts: the arts, finance, architecture, scale, open space, facilities and much much more. We may be here at the Club for only three days, but during that time you won’t fail to pick up on the buzz and vibes that permeate every aspect of our capital. We hope you’ll find that same degree of buzz and vibe in our tour selections. In developing the ‘Future Proofing’ theme of pre-Congress, our endeavour has been to identify venues

20 Centuries of tradition meet at Smithfield

that point – in some way – to a progressive line of thought.

21 Farming in the City of London

All of them are notable: whether for their longevity, a unique

22 Farmers Weekly

approach, a pioneering spirit, their application of science and technology. Innovation – the overall theme of IFAJ2014 – can

23 The BBC

take many forms; our objective is to help you seek out, and

24 Day 3 – Science matters

share with your audiences back home, the many different ways in which British agricultural innovation manifests itself.

25 Certis Europe

My deepest gratitude to our generous sponsors must not

26 Living Heritage: the Houses of Parliament

pass unnoticed. Our headline sponsor, BBSRC, and our three

28 Rothamsted Research

‘day’ sponsors – BSPB, EBLEX and Certis Europe – have

29 Defra: The fourth emergency service 30 A sustainable food chain: innovation and flexibility 31 The Journalists’ Church

all displayed great enthusiasm and support. Crucially, their sponsorship has allowed us to accommodate greater delegate numbers and a packed tour itinerary, within what we believe to be an outstanding delegate fee. Meanwhile, our two food sponsors - Massey Ferguson and Waitrose - will ensure that the food and drink you’ll consume over the next three days will

32 The Caledonian Sleeper

be British, tasty and abundant.

33 Massey Ferguson

It’s an absolute pleasure to have you here – 52 delegates, from

34 HAILO: a special offer for pre-Congress delegates

15 countries – at the Farmers’ Club, in the official home of the

35 Delegate list and contact details

making new ones as we enjoy the next three days together.

British Guild. I look forward to reacquainting old friends and

Adrian Bell, pre-Congress chairman

A BGAJ Publication

Graphic Design

3 Whitehall Court

Mark Narusson

LONDON SW1A 2EL

marknarusson.com

www.bgaj.org.uk British Guild of

Agricultural

Journalists

Get Connected www.ifaj2014.com @ifaj2014 IFAJ2014

Introduction from the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, for the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists’ World Congress 2014: Innovations from a Small Island

elcome to London where the world’s culinary traditions merge in one big melting pot! Food is a vital component of London’s economy, public health and quality of life. The food sector supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, nurtures enterprise, and adds to the cultural landscape

of the city while pumping billions of pounds into our economy. From street markets to Michelin starred restaurants – London’s food sector has it all. But the benefits of this flourishing private enterprise are not shared by all. In feeding a city of millions, London faces significant challenges to ensure that its population can access healthy, nutritious and affordable food. The environmental impact of this food system is also of concern. We need to ensure that our food system works in a sustainable way to protect resources for future generations and ensure food security. London is unusual for a city of its size in having a London Food Board and a Food Policy Team based at City Hall. This shows our commitment to making London’s food system healthier and more sustainable. This programme is focused on improving access to healthy food, increasing the amount of British produce in London’s wholesale markets, and ensuring that London’s public sector promotes local and sustainable food in its procurement. The Food Board has also driven forward an ambitious plan for urban agriculture – creating over 2,000 new community food growing spaces over four years and engaging over 100,000 Londoners in the process. Its importance is in reconnecting people to where their food comes from, building local community cohesion, and helping all Londoners to benefit. But of course there is more to do. I hope that you have a fantastic time in London and enjoy sampling the wonderful food cultures and cuisines. If you are lucky you might even come across one of the 200,000 cucumbers grown in London’s Lea Valley every year!

Boris Johnson Mayor of London

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

BBSRC: bioscience for life The UK is a world-leader in bioscience research, including vital, underpinning agricultural research. BBSRC plays a unique and central role in maintaining this position.

ach year, BBSRC invests around £90M in world-

To deliver our goals we are boosting national capability in

class agricultural research and training, from

research underpinning food security and the bioeconomy

crop science (including energy crops) to farmed

through support for major infrastructure and facilities,

animal health and welfare (including aquaculture), as

and by ensuring that the UK skills base has appropriate

well as research relating to agricultural systems and the

critical mass and specialist research expertise. The BBSRC

environment. These investments aim to further scientific

strategically-funded institutes (see www.bbsrc.ac.uk/

knowledge, promote economic growth, wealth and job

institutes) are central to providing this national capability.

creation, and improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.

Food security is a complex issue that encompasses international trade, aid, transport, economics and social science. BBSRC will continue to play a leading role in the multi-funder, multi-disciplinary Global Food Security research programme, which draws together partners from across Research Councils UK, the Technology Strategy Board, government departments and devolved administrations for greater coordination of funders around shared strategic objectives. The programme provides

Helping to address global challenges Demand for food is rising, driven by factors such as population growth, increasing affluence and changing diets. At the same time, there is increasing competition for land and fresh water, which puts added pressure on production, while climate change will reduce the reliability of food supply, for example through altered weather patterns and increased pressure from pests and diseases. In addition to food production, there is increasing scope for agriculture to be a major source of sustainable feedstocks for bioenergy and high-value chemicals in the wider bioeconomy. Avoiding direct competition with food, by better utilising agricultural waste and production from marginal land, is a key challenge. In future agriculture must produce more from the same or less land, using less water, energy and other inputs whilst reducing waste and adverse environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions. Tackling these different, but related, challenges requires

leadership, enhances synergy, and acts as a focus for attracting greater private and third sector investment. As recognised in the UK Strategy for Agricultural Technologies, there is a need to accelerate the translation of research into practice. We will tackle this by working closely with multiple partners to implement the strategy. For example, working with the Technology Strategy Board to establish the Agri-technology Catalyst and Centres for Agricultural Innovation, which will serve to align academic research more effectively with industry needs, and increase translational skills.

Communicating with industry – the ultimate users of this research – is vital to help BBSRC achieve these goals. That is why we are delighted to sponsor this year’s IFAJ Congress, building on the relationships that we have with agricultural journalists across the arable, horticulture and livestock sectors.

multidisciplinary research. BBSRC is applying the latest bioscience and modelling at a range of scales, up to

Come and visit us on our stand during the main

agricultural landscapes. We support research to increase

Congress in Aberdeen - we look forward to

the efficiency and sustainability of crop and animal

meeting you. Or find out more at

production, reduce waste in the food chain, and ensure

www.bbsrc.ac.uk

safe and nutritious diets. This includes minimising negative environmental impacts and preserving biodiversity and other ecosystem services.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

London in facts and figures One hundred years ago, London’s population of 6.8m made it the world’s most populous city. Today, 8.5m people make it the largest city in Europe, but worldwide it ranks only twenty-third. However, it still has plenty to boast about, writes Adrian Bell. The world’s oldest underground railway system The London Underground celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2013.

Quirky fact: Only two stations contain all five vowels… the letters a, e, i, o and u Its 4,100 carriages on 11 lines carry 1.171 billion passengers every year over 249 miles of track, 45% of which is in tunnels. Waterloo is the network’s busiest station, handling 88 million passengers a year on 23 escalators.

London is two cities Strictly speaking, London is not a city in itself but a metropolis, made up of older districts and boroughs that have long lost their distinctive boundaries. Only two districts have full ‘city’ status: the City of London itself (often called the Square Mile) and the

Tourist tip: The most popular journey with tourists is between Leicester Square and Covent Garden. But it’s a distance of just 260 metres, takes 20 seconds, and will still cost you £4.30 for a single journey!

adjacent City of Westminster. The City of London is England’s oldest local authority, having governed for 700 years.

Quirky fact: The Queen’s Remembrancer is the oldest continually existing legal post in England. He presides over ceremonies that sound like they’re from Lord of the Rings. The Trial of the Pyx, for example, sees 26 goldsmiths sworn in to weigh coins from the Royal Mint. London is the greenest city of its size in the world Green space covers nearly 40 per cent of greater London. That compares to 14% in New York and just 2.5% in Mumbai.

London has the highest concentration of higher education in Europe It is home to 43 universities. Almost 103,000 international students live and learn in London.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

London is the world’s most multicultural city It has the highest foreign-born population of any city – 37 per cent of its population was born abroad. More than 300 languages are spoken. It is home to more than 50 non-indigenous communities, each with a population exceeding 10,000. London has more international visitors than anywhere else in the world – 15.3 million.

Quirky fact: Voltaire, Edgar Allen Poe, Ho Chi Minh, Mahatma Gandhi, Vincent Van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Hitler’s older half-brother all lived in London for a time.

The London Eye was the world’s largest Ferris wheel, before it was superseded by structures in Nanchang, Singapore and Las Vegas. It’s still the biggest in Europe and the UK’s most popular tourist attraction. Blackfriars Bridge, over the Thames, is the world’s largest solar-powered bridge. St Pancras railway station, now home to the Eurostar fleet, was the world’s largest enclosed space when completed in 1868, and remains the world’s largest enclosed train station today.

Economically speaking London is the world’s largest financial centre. Inner London has a GDP per capita of US$152, 116 – the highest of any city on Earth. Its GDP per capita is 328% of the EU average. London is home to the most multi-millionaires in the world. In fact, there are more in London than in the whole of France.

World firsts for London include The world’s oldest public zoo, at Regent’s Park, opened in 1828. The world’s first traffic light was installed outside the Houses of Parliament in 1868. Founded in 1694, the Bank of England was the first privately-owned national bank in any country. In 2012, London became the first city to host the modern Olympic Games three times.

London is home to some of the world’s largest structures The Millennium Dome – now known as the O2 arena – can comfortably fit either the Great Pyramid at Giza or the Statue of Liberty within it.

London is home to the world’s most expensive flat £135.4m, at Hyde Park.

Food for thought Britain’s per capita consumption of baked beans is twice that of the United States. 30,000 Londoners rent allotments to grow their own fruit and vegetables. Within Greater London, there are 12,064 hectares of farmland – about 8 per cent of London’s land area. Only seven dairy farms remain in the Greater London area. London is home to 37,450 restaurants. Sixty-four are Michelin starred. One year’s consumption of food in London produces 19

The Shard, a 72-storey skyscraper, is the tallest building

million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – but because

in the European Union. It stands 1,016ft (310m) high.

Londoners throw away almost a third of the food they buy,

The M25, the 122-mile orbital motorway surrounding London, is the world’s longest.

food waste alone accounts for 6.3 million tonnes. That’s more than the entire national output of Iceland.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

London: a world-class city With a population of eight million and nearly 2,000 years of history, London is one of the most significant financial and cultural capitals in the world. Andrea Beddows takes a tour…

ondon or Londinium as it was then known, was

London expanded greatly in Victorian times as the railways

founded by the Romans in AD50 who, after battling

linked much of Britain to the capital. With this increasing

the legendary Queen Boadicea and her army, were

urbanisation, open space became increasingly important

forced to build a wall to protect it from further invasion. The current City of London, or Square Mile, is largely located within this defensive wall and is the oldest, most historic part of London. The Romans left at the beginning of the 5th century as the Empire crumbled, leaving London largely deserted, though by the 7th century the city was still sufficiently important to justify the building of the first St Paul’s Cathedral. Following attacks by Vikings, the Norman

and an Act of Parliament in 1851 designated five Royal Parks covering nearly 500 hectares in central London as public open space. Many of the prominent buildings we see today in the capital stem from the 19th century, including the Houses of Parliament, which were reopened in 1858 following a fire and featuring the great Big Ben bell. Of equal note was the first underground railway, now known as the Tube, which opened in London in 1862.

invasion in 1066 headed by William the Conqueror saw

London continued to grow considerably during the 20th

London’s prominence continue to grow. Keen to protect the

century, doubling in size between 1919 and 1939. It

city he built a stronghold, the Tower of London. Ever since

sustained widespread damage from aerial bombardment

then, the Royal family has been based in London.

during the Second World War, with docks and factories

London became the centre of trade and governance in

destroyed, and 30,000 people killed.

Tudor times, with its population extending beyond the

The city became a cultural icon in the ‘Swinging 60s’ and

old city walls to the nearby towns of Westminster and

recently The Millennium Wheel or ‘London Eye’ and the

Southwark on the south side of the Thames. It was during

Millennium Dome – now the O2 - were built to celebrate the

this period that shipbuilding on the river became more

arrival of the 21st Century. And finally, built in 2012, the Shard,

prominent and a number of palaces, theatres and deer

nearly double the height of the London Eye, offers stunning

parks were established.

360 degree views on a clear day for a distance of 60 km.

The 17th century was an unsettled period for London, with

Traditional ceremonies and events continue to illustrate

the Great Plague and Great Fire particularly significant.

important aspects of London’s rich history and include

The 18th century saw the trading capabilities of London

the Changing of the Guard, Trooping the Colour, the State

escalate as huge quantities of goods were brought in to it –

Opening of Parliament and Lord Mayor’s Show. Most

80% of England’s imports - from all over the world. The City

recently London hosted the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic

of London’s importance as an important financial centre

Games, making it the first city to host the modern games

also grew.

three times.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

The Farmers Club A unique club for those involved in agriculture, The Farmers Club was founded in 1842 and has been established in its current location, overlooking the River Thames, since 1904. This is to be your base during your stay in London. Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and many other eminent people are known to have stayed here; moreover, the building was used as a base for the Intelligence Service until the end of World War II.

he Club was created by agricultural writer, William

perhaps unsurprising that members have been delighted

Shaw, to provide “a gathering place for farmers

by the chef’s focus on providing simply cooked, seasonal,

which could also serve as a platform, from which

quality British food. He uses all British produce and devotes

would go out to England news of all that was good in

considerable time and effort to tracing the provenance of

farming, with reports of any discussions about those things

everything he serves. Where possible, produce from Club

that needed to be done.” Through its early days it was little

members is sourced via the London supply chain and their

more than a debating society with men of vision highlighting

details are listed in the menus. The new menus encompass

the issues of the day. Over the years the Club has

a spectrum of dishes to appeal to all tastes.

continuously adapted to members’ needs and has survived the changing fortunes of agriculture through recessions,

More information on the club and membership

two World Wars and ever-increasing mechanisation of

is available at www.thefarmersclub.com and

the industry. Membership fluctuated accordingly over the

an exciting new website will be launched in

years but has now reached a peak of 5,500. Club activities

the autumn to keep you up to date with club

include attendance at major agricultural shows and regional

developments.

events as well as a programme of visits and seminars on the key issues of the day. Contact with members,

Meanwhile, enjoy your stay!

the majority of whom are farmers and landowners, is

Stephen Skinner

maintained via an excellent bi-monthly journal along with

Chief Executive, The Farmers Club

its website. Relatively recent milestones in Club development have included the establishment, in 1964, of a Committee of Junior members, later to become the Under 30s Club, with its own Chairman and organising its own functions; the foundation in 1981 of The Farmers Club Charitable Trust, awarding bursaries for those in agricultural education to study specific subjects abroad; and the creation of the Pinnacle Awards for Excellence in Business Management, now in their 18th year - sponsored jointly by The Farmers Club, ADAS and the Cave Foundation, with help from the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists - offering awards for students planning to work in agriculture who demonstrate management potential through projects submitted. Whitehall Court, the heart of the Club, offers a ‘home-fromhome’ in central London. Run by a committee of members, drawn from all parts of the industry, the Club has a constant eye to the future, and has recently launched an ambitious programme of restructuring and refurbishment of the facilities and accommodation, which have been updated whilst retaining a traditional feel. With the arrival of a new chef earlier this year menus for the restaurant and for lighter bites in the bar have also undergone a major review. Given the industry it serves, it is

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

Liquid history: The River Thames The River Thames is England’s longest river, stretching for 215 miles from its source in the Cotswold Hills. At every point during its journey to the sea, over thousands of years, it’s affected the lives of those who live alongside. But it’s London that is perhaps most synonymous with the Thames, and for good reason, explains Adrian Bell.

t was in AD43 that the Roman Emperor Claudius

But it also became one of the world’s dirtiest; London’s

finally overcame the native British tribes and occupied

population was emptying all its waste into a vast open sewer

England. Recognising the river’s strategic and economic

formerly known as the Thames. In 1858, sittings in Parliament

importance, the Romans founded a trading post at the

had to be abandoned during the ‘Great Stink’; outbreaks of

lowest possible point. Its name? Londinium.

cholera and typhoid became common. A massive engineering

For five centuries, Londinium was one of the Roman Empire’s major commercial centres, largely thanks to the

project began, installing huge sewers beneath the river’s embankments, and easing the river’s burden.

Thames - and since then, it’s never looked back. Aspects

During the 20th century, much of the river’s trade was lost to

of Thames activity are recorded in the ancient Domesday

road transport, and the decline of the Empire in the aftermath

Book, commissioned by William the Conqueror after his

of the Great War further reduced its economic importance.

decisive win at the Battle of Hastings; the Tudors and

Ever larger ships, and the introduction of the shipping

Stuarts built magnificent palaces alongside the river, such as

container, saw ports move further downstream into the

those at Richmond, Kew, Hampton Court, Whitehall (where

wider estuary. Industry too moved out of the city, and former

Parliament stands today) and Greenwich.

warehouses and wharves started to become sought-after flats

With the expansion of world trade in the 16th and 17th

and apartments.

centuries, the City of London grew rapidly and the wharves

Today’s river is a far cry from the bustling sight of boats and

throbbed with goods from far-away lands. London Bridge

barges that would have greeted the eye in medieval times.

was for many years the only crossing of the river; that,

It’s also cleaner than ever; declared biologically ‘dead’ in

coupled with the city’s narrow medieval streets full of

1957, it’s now the cleanest river of any major city anywhere

horses, carts and traders, saw the river used as the capital’s

in the world, home to 125 species of fish and over 400

major thoroughfare. It was easier to travel with one of the

species of invertebrates. Seals, dolphins and porpoises

‘watermen’ than to attempt to get anywhere overland.

regularly divert from the North Sea.

By the 18th century, with London the centre of the vast,

Just don’t try swimming in it. Since 2012, it’s been illegal.

mercantile British Empire - covering nearly a third of the globe - the Thames was said to be the world’s busiest waterway.

London Bridge is falling down... As recently as 1729, London Bridge was the only road crossing of the Thames downstream of Kingston. The site has seen multiple bridges since the first Roman crossing in around AD55, but it is the medieval bridge built in the reign of Henry II to which the famous nursery rhyme refers. Begun in 1176, it took 33 years to complete. Its 19 arches supported some 200 buildings; often built haphazardly, they overhung both the river and the road, which was in any case just 12 feet wide. The bridge was poorly built and constantly under repair. Britain’s habit of driving on the left originates from London Bridge; in 1772 the Lord Mayor passed a law to try to make crossing the bridge easier and quicker by segregating the opposing traffic flows. But the bridge impacted the river too; the narrow arches created fierce rapids and there could be a six-foot difference in water levels between the two sides. The medieval bridge was demolished only in 1831; New London Bridge lasted only until 1967, when it was sold to an American oil mogul and re-erected in Arizona. The current bridge was opened in 1973.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

FACTS and FIGURES 34 bridges over the Thames in London, 15 tunnels below it, and one cable-car crossing 80 islands in the Thames The Thames provides twothirds of London’s drinking water Its tidal range is 7 metres Busiest inland waterway in the UK

Waitrose Backing innovation and excellence in agriculture and proudly supporting IFAJ Congress 2014 For further details about Waitrose, contact John Gregson on 01344 824573 or on john.gregson@waitrose.co.uk

Sponsored by BSPB

Day 1 Growing for the future 0645 – 0700

Breakfast at Club – to go

0700

Depart by coach for Wakehurst Place and Millennium Seed Bank, West Sussex

0830

Arrive Millennium Seed Bank

Tour in groups

1115

Depart for Leckford, Hampshire

1315

Arrive Leckford Estate

Lunch (provided by Waitrose)

Presentation and tour

1615

Depart Leckford, for London

1815

Arrive Farmers’ Club

Change for dinner

1845

Coach departs for Livery Dinner at Armourers’ Hall

1900

Armourers’ Hall

Guest speaker: Christine Tacon, Groceries Code Adjudicator

2230 Carriages

BSPB IFAJ half page advert 0814_Layout 1 05/08/2014 14:15 Page 1

The new and definitive guide to

PLANT BREEDING Created by the British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB), Plant Breeding Matters is a comprehensive online resource with facts and figures covering the business and science of plant breeding. You can reach it from the BSPB home page at www.bspb.co.uk or call +44 (0)1353 653200 to request a printed copy.

British Society of Plant Breeders enquiries@bspb.co.uk

British Society of Plant Breeders Penny Maplestone, chief executive, BSPB

he British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) is the

agriculture, and the starting point in the UK’s £90bn food

representative body for the UK plant breeding

supply chain.

industry. Members range from large multinational

“Supporting the Congress theme of ‘Innovations from a Small Island’, this is a key opportunity for BSPB to showcase the innovation taking place within the UK’s commercial plant breeding and seeds sector to an international audience.”

companies to independent SMEs and public sector research institutes, comprising virtually 100% of plant breeding activity in the UK across the major agricultural and horticultural crop species. Acting on members’ behalf, BSPB licenses, collects and distributes certified seed royalties and farm-saved seed payments on agricultural and horticultural crops. Plant breeding is an innovative, research-intensive sector, and every £1 invested through seed royalties generates at least £40 within the wider food economy – through increased yields, reduced production costs, improved quality or import substitution.

“We look forward to welcoming IFAJ members to the UK, and to discussing the role of plant breeding innovation as a key factor in meeting the food, feed and fuel needs of a world population set to reach 9.6 million by 2050.”

BSPB co-ordinates statutory and non-statutory variety evaluation trials, and represents members’ interests on technical, regulatory and intellectual property matters. For further information about the Society’s activities visit

Plant Breeding Matters The business and science of crop improvement

www.bspb.co.uk BSPB also supports continued innovation and investment in UK plant breeding by representing members’ interests with regulators, policy-makers, research funders and other industry organisations, and by working to promote better public understanding of the business and science of plant breeding. Through its Plant Breeding Matters programme, BSPB highlights the role of crop genetic improvement in supporting a competitive UK economy and addressing

Creating new varieties

key global challenges of food security, health and nutrition,

The basic aim of all plant breeding techniques is to generate new genetic diversity and then select plants with the desired improved characteristics.

climate change and sustainable development. Visit the

The creation of each new variety is a complex, costly and skilled operation. It is also time-consuming – early-stage varieties in today’s breeding programmes must anticipate the needs of farmers, consumers and the environment in ten years’ time and beyond!

website at www.plantbreedingmatters.com

Breeding techniques vary between crop species, but the scientific principles of plant breeding remain true to Mendel’s first discovery that selected parent plants can be cross-pollinated to combine desired characteristics in a single variety.

“Plant breeders are at the forefront of global efforts to apply

These characteristics are determined by genes – units of hereditary material that are transferred from one generation to the next.

science and innovation to improve the productivity, climate

Since each plant contains many thousands of genes, and the breeder is seeking to combine a range of traits in one plant (such as high yield, quality and resistance to disease), developing a successful variety has been compared to playing a fruit machine

resilience and resource-use efficiency of crop production. We are therefore delighted to support the forthcoming

– not with three reels but several hundred. The skill of the plant breeder lies in improving the chances of hitting the jackpot by combining all the desired characteristics in the same variety.

”Future food-production increases will have to come from higher yields. Unless progress with agricultural yields remains very strong, the next century will experience sheer human misery that, on a numerical scale, will exceed the worst of everything that has come before...” Norman E. Borlaug, 1970

Plant breeding in practice

IFAJ World Congress with its pre-Congress tour, where the importance of conserving plant genetic resources, as well as the rapid progress taking place to understand and exploit novel sources of genetic diversity, will feature prominently.

The female parent is emasculated so that it cannot self pollinate and pollen is transferred from the male parent with a paint brush to make the cross

“Britain’s plant breeding industry is a hi-tech, researchintensive sector, developing a constant flow of improved crop varieties as the foundation for successful, productive

Pollinated plants are bagged to ensure that the female parent receives pollen only from the chosen male parent

Seed is collected from the pollinated plants and sown out to produce an F1 population in which all the plants are uniform; this is oilseed rape

Seed from the F1 plants is collected and sown to produce an F2 population in which the plants, in this case wheat, are genetically very diverse

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

The Millennium Seed Bank By Jamie Day Scientists at the MSB work in partnership with over 120 organisations across 80 countries around the world, together they form the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP). There are 600 people worldwide involved, with regional networks established in Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australia. image: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

he Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) based at Wakehurst Place in Ardingly, West Sussex is an ambitious endeavour seeking to store seed samples of all the

As of July 2014, the MSBP has banked seeds from 13% of the world’s plant species, equivalent to 34,088 wild plant species with 1,980,405,036 seeds in store. The priority is to collect seeds from plants growing in alpine, dryland, coastal and island ecosystems, as these are most vulnerable to climate change, as well as useful plants. Other priorities are to preserve seeds from plants that are endemic, economically important or endangered. The MSBP will help countries meet international objectives

world’s plants for posterity and use. It aims to preserve

such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and

the world’s biodiversity through the storage of seeds and

the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations’

samples of plants that might otherwise become extinct – its

Environment Programme. Where possible, the MSB ensures

stated objective is to combat potentially catastrophic threats

that its samples are duplicates of locally held seed stocks

to human wellbeing by safeguarding wild plant diversity and

and that seeds are available to researchers.

enabling its sustainable use through global partnership.

As well as preserving plant biodiversity, collections play a

The MSB is managed by the world famous Royal Botanic

role in the restoration of damaged habitats and ensuring

Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew). RBG Kew is split between two

food security and livelihoods, as well as in educating future

sites, the garden, plant collection and research facility

generations and researching and developing plant science

located to the west of the UK capital city London and the

skills. Enabling use can be demonstrated through many of

plant and seed collections and research at Wakehurst Place

the MSBP projects for example the “Adapting Agriculture to

in West Sussex. The state-of-the-art Millennium Seed Bank

Climate Change Project”.

was opened in 2000. The purpose built facility for seed conservation and seed biology comprises of the laboratories and a public exhibition area, under which lies a vast storage vault. Seed samples are dried and kept in glass jars within the vault frozen at -20°C.

The scientists started by collecting samples of the plants indigenous to the UK. After this, it set itself the target of assembling seeds from 10% of the world’s wild plant species. With this target met in 2009, the next milestone is to have seeds from 25% of the planet’s plants – some 75,000 species - stored at the MSB by the year 2020.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

The Millennium Seed Bank Tour Throughout the morning there will be a behind the scene tour led by the MSB scientists and an opportunity to see the public exhibition area of the Orangery, including the use of interactive touch screens and views into the working laboratories and seed-preparation facilities. There will be interactive areas for hands on experience of seed banking. This will enable participants to get a good idea of what the scientists at the MSB do on a daily basis. The four main areas of the tour will be the herbarium, the seed cleaning and germination laboratories, and the seed banks themselves.

The Leckford Estate By Gill Norriss

he Leckford Estate, which includes the Waitrose farm,

A wide range of crops is produced to supply Waitrose stores

a plant nursery, a farm shop and a water garden,

with outputs such as Leckford-label bread flour, rapeseed

occupies about 1,500 hectares of rolling Hampshire

oil, mushrooms, apples, pears, cider, apple juice and honey.

countryside to the south west of London. It was purchased

A state of the art dairy unit and a poultry unit provide milk,

by John Spedan Lewis in 1928 as his private estate, was

free-range chickens and eggs. A recent addition to the fruit

converted to a limited company in 1929 and is now part of

enterprise is the vineyard, whose quality sparkling wine was

the John Lewis Partnership of which he was the pioneering

sold in Waitrose for the first time this year.

founder. In 1937 Spedan bought the grocery chain Waitrose

The Waitrose reputation relies on the traceability of the finest

and incorporated it into the Partnership, opening the first

foods, requiring strong relationships throughout the food

Waitrose supermarket in 1955. Today the Partnership has

chain, built on respect, trust and a mutual commitment to

more than 30 John Lewis department stores, more than 300

the highest standards. Long-term relationships with other

Waitrose supermarkets and an annual turnover of over £10

suppliers enable the company to help them develop healthy,

billion. It is owned by its 91,000 staff, known as ‘Partners’

sustainable businesses as well as sharing Leckford’s high

and all profits are returned to them. The Estate also has

standards and best practice with them.

leisure facilities including golf courses and fly fishing, for the

Leckford Estate is all about innovative practices and new

enjoyment of Partners and their families.

products, a holistic approach, choice and quality, and

From 2001 Leckford became an important part of Waitrose,

respect for the environment. Above all, it’s about delivering

with a real focus on producing food for the stores under the

customers the very finest food from known sources. Today

Leckford brand. Waitrose believes in “championing British

you follow in the footsteps of visitors from all over the world

produce, treading lightly on the environment, supporting

who have visited Leckford to share in these values and

responsible sourcing and treating people fairly”. The farm

learn from a modern and professional food business with a

embodies the principles of good food, good environmental

sound footing in its own history and a strong commitment to

practice and fair behaviour in all its transactions, ensuring responsible and sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry

forward thinking.

and holding true to John Spedan Lewis’s original vision of farming in harmony with the environment.

image: MATTHEW BROWN

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

The City Liveries: their history and role By Trevor Clarke

rade and craft associations have flourished all over

Application for membership of livery companies is purely

Europe for many centuries, protecting the quality

a domestic matter for each individual company but one

and reputation of their trade and the behaviour of

commonality is that any applicant for Livery must be

their members. But the City of London companies, now collectively known as the Livery, also carrying the distinctive title of Worshipful Company, are unique in their survival, number and diversity.

granted the Freedom of The City. There are a number of rights traditionally but apocryphally associated with freemen—the right to drive sheep and cattle over London Bridge; to a silken rope, if hanged; to carry a naked sword in public; or that if the City of London Police finds a

The social and economic conditions which gave birth to

Freeman or Liveryman drunk and incapable, they will bundle

the original guilds have long since been overtaken by the

him or her into a taxi and send them home rather than

development of industry and commerce, but the livery

throw them into a cell. While sheep have occasionally been

companies still flourish today as living institutions, numbering

driven over London Bridge on special occasions, the rest of

some 26,000 sworn Liverymen, whose activities have been

these “privileges” are now effectively symbolic.

commended by successive Royal Commissions.

One custom which is carried out in Hall during a gathering

Liverymen still play an essential role in the governance of

of Liverymen is the “Rose Bowl”, a means both of cleansing

the City of London (as distinct from London, the capital city). Assembling in Common Hall, they are instrumental in the elections of the City’s government and certain of its officers, the most important being that of voting for The Lord Mayor of the City of London. Their survival has been achieved by doing what they have always done: fostering their trade in a wide context including serving the community, giving in 2012 nearly £43m to various charitable organisations, running some 153 schools and colleges directly and embracing modern skills and professions. Despite their antiquity, the Livery was

the hands after eating (a throwback to pre knives and forks) and to encourage good digestion. There’s also the “Loving Cup”, a ceremony upon which you will be instructed in the “mystery” and invited to share. There is no doubt that the Livery movement will be with us for the foreseeable future – and it is up to us in each generation to ensure that it is relevant, that it does serve a purpose and that it is in a fit state to pass on to the next generation – for them to make of it in their turn, what they will. In the words of the celebrated livery toast: May they flourish root and branch – for ever and ever and ever.

responsible for an early attempt at sexual equality: a medieval law called ‘femme sole’ allowed women to trade in their own right in the case of a widow continuing her husband’s craft.

FACTS and FIGURES

Early gatherings of “the Livery” would take place in hostelries, many of which were bought by the Livery and turned into a permanent Hall. Armourers’ Hall, the venue for the dinner on 1 September, is on the original site of the ‘Dragon and Five Shoppes’. The Company has occupied this same site since 1346, taking a lease on the property in 1428 and acquiring the freehold in the 16th century. In 1795, the Hall

There are 110 Livery Companies. The newest, the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars, was formed in February 2014. The oldest is the Mercers’ Company (general merchants), whose Royal Charter dates from 1394. The term ‘at sixes and sevens’, meaning something

was enlarged, but the Court decided in 1839 to rebuild it

in total disarray or confusion, has its origins in an

completely, which, together with its furnishings, cost £10,533

ongoing dispute between the Skinners’ and Merchant

– the equivalent of £605,000 at today’s prices. Not every

Taylors’ company over which was founded first. They

Company has a Hall, however – many liveries lost their halls

now take it in turns to swap precedence every year.

in the two great disasters to strike London during the last 400

The venue for Monday night’s dinner is Armourers’

years: the Great Fire of London in 1666 and, more recently,

Hall, a Guild established in 1322 and receiving its

the Blitz of the Second World War.

Royal Charter in 1453.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

The Groceries Code Adjudicator: Working for fairness in the groceries supply chain in the UK and overseas By Christine Tacon, Groceries Code Adjudicator Across the world relationships

As the Adjudicator I am responsible for monitoring retailer

between large retailers and

practices through evidence gathering, ensuring compliance

their suppliers can often be

with the Code and providing retailers with guidance on good

challenging and the UK’s

practice. I have the power to carry out investigations and if I

approach to the problem

find serious breaches I can impose financial penalties.

has generated much interest

Wherever possible I want to work collaboratively, raising

internationally.

issues with the retailers’ Code Compliance Officers as

Just over a year ago an Act

soon as I hear about them, providing the opportunity to put

of Parliament established the

potential breaches right. I have already published three case

Groceries Code Adjudicator

studies where large retailers have accepted the Code has

(GCA) and I was appointed to the role - the outcome of a

been breached and action has been taken. This is a swift and

process that evolved from a 2008 Competition Commission

simple way of moving things forward.

investigation into the groceries sector. The investigation found that while the sector was broadly competitive, some large

I believe I am already seeing progress. At the GCA’s inaugural conference in June I reported that following my

retailers were transferring excessive risk and unexpected

encouragement eight of the ten retailers had voluntarily

costs to their direct suppliers.

agreed to limit forensic audits to the two previous financial

In response the UK Government introduced the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (the Code) to regulate the relationship between the ten largest groceries retailers and their direct suppliers based in the UK and abroad. The retailers are: Aldi Stores Ltd, Asda Stores Ltd, Co-operative Group Ltd, Lidl UK GmbH, Iceland Foods Ltd, Marks and Spencer plc, J Sainsbury plc, Tesco plc, Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc and Waitrose Ltd.

years rather than the six permitted in UK law. This activity - often involving the scrutiny of documents and emails going back six years for potential missing payments - was one of suppliers’ top five issues. Some suppliers told me they had faced demands for six-figure sums that were often difficult to challenge as key personnel had moved on. But the retailers listened to my concerns and they made a significant commitment. To achieve more I know that I have to increase awareness of my role among direct suppliers, especially those overseas. I have to impress upon them that without their information and evidence to work with, it will be very hard for the GCA to make any difference. Reaching suppliers overseas is

Practices covered by the Code include: paying for goods

particularly challenging.

on time; compensating suppliers for forecasting errors; not varying an agreement without reasonable notice; not

That’s why I am delighted I have an opportunity to speak to

requiring suppliers to pay listing fees or marketing costs and

agriculture correspondents attending IFAJ 2014. My plea to

delisting practices. This list is not exhaustive - see details on

you is help me to spread the word back home; I am happy

the GCA website (www.gov.uk/gca). Price setting or the

to give interviews and do video link-ups to reach overseas

relationship between indirect suppliers and the large retailers,

suppliers. Together we can work for fairness in the grocery

however, are not in my remit.

supply chain.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

Sponsored by CERTIS

Day 3 Science matters 0700

Vacate rooms at Farmers’ Club and load baggage; breakfast on-board

0715

Depart for Rothamsted

0830

Arrive Rothamsted, Harpenden, Hertfordshire

Coffee and breakfast

0845

BBSRC Presentation1

0915

Rothamsted Presentation2 - background and current ‘hot topics’

0945 Tour

Centenary Building (including 20:20 wheat3)

Sample Archive (including agro-ecology and soils4)

CE and glasshouses ( including Camelina5)

Bringing industry and SMEs closer to the scientists

Plant Impact6

1045

Delegates board coach for a quick driven tour of the field experiments

1100 Depart

Key contacts

Matt Goode, Associate Director, Communications & External Relations, BBSRC

Achim Dobermann, Director, Rothamsted Research

Martin Parry, ‎Associate Director, Strategy and Planning, Rothamsted Research

Professor John Crawford, Head of Sustainable Systems Research, Rothamsted Research

Professor Johnathan Napier, Research Leader, Rothamsted Research

John Brubaker, CEO, Plant Impact plc

1215

Arrive at Palace of Westminster, London

1300

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs7

Video link to Master Class group in Aberdeen

1350

Secretary of State departs

1400

Lunch in Terrace Restaurant, House of Lords

1500

Tour of Houses of Parliament8

1600

Depart Parliament for Farmers Club

Key contacts

The Right Honourable Elizabeth Truss MP

Lord Cameron of Dillington, President, British Guild of Agricultural Journalists

1625

Panel discussion - A Sustainable Food Chain: Innovation and Flexibility (see page 30)

1825

Depart for St Bride’s Church

1845

Evensong and reception at St Bride’s

2015

Coach departs for Euston Station

2045

Arrive Euston and board Caledonian Sleeper

2115

Depart Euston, destination Aberdeen!

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

Certis Europe Mark Waltham, CEO, Certis Europe Crop protection plays a vital part in the production of healthy, clean and safe crops and Certis Europe holds a unique position in providing integrated crop protection solutions to growers of a wide range of crops that help them to meet the demands and pressures of the market. In its quest to help ensure the long-term future of grower businesses the company seeks to explore and understand the wider challenges that will need to be addressed to maintain a sustainable food system in the future. We have already started to develop our own long-term strategy in the protected cropping sector, considering in some depth how that may look in 2030.

The final afternoon of Q&A and discussion sessions represents an ideal occasion to question and draw together ideas on how the industry can move forward. How will developments in science and innovation help to build and maintain a sustainable food system for a growing global population?

Certis is delighted to sponsor these meetings and offer the opportunity to consider with politicians and experts the wider challenges of our industry today and in the future. We are looking forward to sharing some of our thoughts and to lively discussions with international delegates.

We welcome the exciting opportunity the pre-Congress tour provides for IFAJ delegates to see some of the agricultural and horticultural operations and institutions that showcase current developments in science and innovation. IFAJ half page ad_Layout 1 04/08/2014 16:42 Page 1

Certis Europe focusing on a sustainable food supply for a growing global population

Certis Europe holds a unique position in providing integrated crop protection solutions for a wide range of crops that help growers to meet the demands and pressures of the market.

Find out more www.certiseurope.com

Living Heritage: the Houses of Parliament An instantly recognisable building, the site of the Houses of Parliament has been a centre of power for more than 900 years, writes Adrian Bell.

ne of the oldest continuous representative

those remain today, the seven hundred intervening years

assemblies in the world, the modern UK

have seen great changes in their respective share of power.

parliament has its origins in two Anglo-Saxon

bodies – the Witan and the Moot – existent between the 8th and 11th centuries.

The English Parliament progressively limited the monarchy’s power, culminating in the English Civil War of 1642-1651, the execution of King Charles I and the brief establishment

The Witan allowed the King to consult with leading advisers

of a republic. Although the monarchy was restored in

and noblemen. It existed only when the King chose, and

1660, the supremacy of Parliament was now established.

although its duty was to advise the King, the King could act

By 1707, it had become the Parliament of Great Britain

without its consent. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, a

after the Act of Union between the English and Scottish

smaller, permanent inner council began to advise the King,

Parliaments; in 1801 it saw the merger of the Kingdoms of

with wider consent sought from nobles and churchmen.

Great Britain and Ireland. Since 1927, it has been known as

The Witan would eventually form the basis for the modern

the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Upper House, known today as the House of Lords.

Northern Ireland. The most significant changes in recent

The moot, meanwhile, was a regular meeting for each county. Attendees included the local lords, bishops, sheriffs and representatives from each village. Again, the Norman Conquest acted as a catalyst for its permanence and it

times have been the 1999 abolition of hereditary peers from the House of Lords, and the removal of judiciary duties from the House of Lords with the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009.

was the moot that introduced the idea of representative government at the local level. This would become, in time, the locally representative House of Commons. The first official use of the term ‘Parliament’ was in 1236, but it was still an occasion rather than an institution. Not until Edward I’s reign began in 1272 did Parliament become a more frequent event. By 1327, when Edward’s son was removed from the throne, the modern three-part Parliament was in place: Monarch, Lords and Commons. Although

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

But what of the buildings themselves? The Palace of Westminster, as the complex is properly known, was first established in the 11th century as the primary London residence of the English king and remained so until 1534 when Henry VIII moved to the Palace of Whitehall. The medieval buildings were gradually adapted, extended and refurbished over the next 300 years, but in 1834 a fire destroyed both Houses of Parliament along with most of the other buildings in the Palace complex. Fortunately, Westminster Hall – built in 1097 and boasting the largest clearspan medieval roof in Europe - was saved. The foundation stone for the modern Houses of Parliament was laid in 1840, following an architectural competition won by Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin. One hundred years later it would come to close to being destroyed again, in the course of German bombing of London during the Second World War. The chamber of the House of Commons took a direct hit, and Westminster Hall was saved only thanks to the actions of quick-thinking and determined firemen. By far the most well-known feature of the Houses of Parliament is Big Ben – yet herein lies a story. It refers not to the tower whose features have become a visual shorthand for London, but the 13.5t bell within. The tower itself is known as the Elizabeth Tower – a name bestowed upon it in 2012 for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

FACTS AND FIGURES Benches in the House of Commons are green; those

There are 650 elected Members in the House of

in the Lords are red. Thus on the Thames, Lambeth

Commons, each representing an average of 92,000

Bridge (nearest the Lords is red) while Westminster

people, but only 427 seats. Latecomers have to

Bridge (nearest the Commons) is green.

stand.

Since the 2010 General Election, UK parliaments are

The annual tradition of ‘Bonfire Night’, held annually

on a fixed term of five years. The next election is in

on Nov 5, commemorates a failed attempt by Guy

May 2015.

Fawkes to blow-up the Houses of Parliament while

No British monarch has entered a sitting House of Commons since 1642, when King Charles I stormed

the King was opening Parliament in 1605. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament…

the chamber to arrest five members.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

Rothamsted Research By Jamie Day Rothamsted Research, which receives strategic funding from the UK government’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is the longest running agricultural research station in the world.

BSRC is the biggest public funder of academic research and training in the non-clinical life sciences and the largest single public funder of agriculture

and food-related research, investing around £90M each year in research and capital relating to agriculture. Recent and ongoing investment at Rothamsted Research campus in Harpenden, Hertfordshire is designed to ensure it is equipped to continue in its role, while developing as a hub of international scientific collaboration.

Over the years, Rothamsted expanded its work into more aspects of soils, plant nutrition and crop protection from

Rothamsted research station was founded by Sir John

weeds, pests and diseases. Notable discoveries have

Bennet Lawes (1814-1900), the owner of the Rothamsted

been the discovery and development of the pyrethroid

Estate, in 1843. The estate is owned by the Lawes Trust,

class of insecticides, and advances in the fields of virology,

and the listed Manor House, where Sir John Lawes lived, is

nematology, soil science and pesticide resistance.

still on the estate.

Over recent years, the consolidation of the UK’s crop

Sir John Lawes was an entrepreneur who became one

research resources has seen Rothamsted become the main

of the great Victorian scientists. He inherited the estate

UK crop research centre in England. Rothamsted’s state-

at the age of 7, but from the late 1830s, developed an

of-the-art grassland Farm Platform at North Wyke in Devon

interest in the effect of inorganic materials on crop growth.

provides scientists with a unique opportunity to address

This culminated in 1842 with him opening the UK’s first

some of agriculture’s most pressing challenges, for example

factory for the manufacture of artificial fertilisers, based

mitigating and adapting to climate change, protecting

on phosphorous and sulphate materials, known as the

natural resources and sustaining the rural economy in

superphosphates, in south-east London.

grassland dominated regions such as South West England.

The Rothamsted estate gave Sir John Lawes the facility to

Although the centre is largely funded through the BBSRC,

test his theories, and his appointment of Sir Joseph Henry

finance is also provided by other government bodies,

Gilbert, a chemist, as scientific collaborator in 1843 led to

the UK’s farmer-funded levy boards (AHDB) and through

the creation of the Rothamsted Experimental Station. This

industry partners for specific projects. For example, there is

was the foundation of modern agricultural research and the

a major project underway with Syngenta to develop higher-

science of crop nutrition.

yielding wheat varieties.

The long-term classical experiments on wheat fertiliser (the

Rothamsted’s mission is to deliver the knowledge and new

Broadbalk) and grassland fertilisation for hay (the Park Grass)

practices to increase crop productivity and quality and to

have been running since 1843 and 1856 respectively and

develop environmentally sustainable solutions for food and

continue to this day. Rothamsted has a collection of soil, grain

energy production. It is equipped with the latest laboratory

and straw samples taken from these fields in each of the

facilities and technology, and hosts many international

subsequent years. These samples are still used by researchers

conferences to disseminate its findings and encourage

in looking for information on climactic, meterological, mineral

discussion and debate among the world’s agricultural scientists.

and pest, weed and disease information from the past.

A £13 million expansion programme is underway to

The vast amount of information collected through

increase the laboratory and conference space available, and

Rothamsted’s classical experiments comparing the use of

to provide the facilities to encourage companies and new

inorganic and organic fertilisers on crop yield, also led to the

start-ups to work on the campus. The vision is to create a

development of statistical tools to interpret and analyse the

plant science hub for the exchange of ideas to help meet

data, many of which have become the standard statistical

the growing world demand for plant materials for food, fibre

methods used in modern science.

and industrial processes.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

Defra: The fourth emergency service Prime Minister David Cameron described the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as the “fourth emergency service” when he first visited its London headquarters after the 2010 general election. By Tony McDougal

t is a fair comment. Due to its wide-ranging remit, Defra

have huge amount of money ring-fenced, Defra has faced

deals with a large number of emergencies, including

repeated financial squeezes. One area where it has managed

in recent years an outbreak of foot and mouth, the

to hang on to considerable levels of funding has been around

horsemeat scandal, serious flooding and tree diseases such

flood protection, with £3.2bn allocated between 2010/11

as ash die-back (Chalara fraxinea).

and 2014/5 to manage flood and coastal erosion.

And a number of its issues can polarise public opinion – last

Following the severe Winter floods which left many parts of

year’s badger culling trials in west Gloucestershire and west

the English countryside and indeed some suburban areas

Somerset were an attempt to reduce the spread of bovine

underwater, Defra has been provided an additional £270m

tuberculosis (bovine TB) among the nation’s cattle herds.

for urgent repairs and rebuilding work, including maintenance

They were admired and supported by livestock farmers but

of ditches through dredging which was one of the most

heavily criticised by animal welfare and green lobby groups.

contentious issues on the ravaged Somerset Levels.

But Defra’s role is much wider than dealing with

There will be much interest in how the Department and its

potentially crippling plant health or animal diseases. It is

Rural Payments Agency continues to develop arrangements

the government department responsible for policy and

to implement the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP),

regulations on environmental, food and rural issues.

which starts in 2015. Heavily criticised for making a

Although Defra only works directly in England, it works closely with the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland

bureaucratic mess of implementing the last CAP, there are signs that lessons have been learned.

and Northern Ireland. It leads on vital negotiations in the EU,

Farmers will have their single farm payments replaced

covering major and contentious issues such as the reforms

by a new direct payment made up of a basic payment, a

of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Common

payment for greening and, if appropriate, a further young

Fisheries Policy (CFP)

farmers payment. This will be backed up by the new Rural

And it also leads on international negotiations, leading for the UK Government at the Rio+20 sustainable development talks and at international biodiversity events.

Development Programme, which starts on 1 January, 2015 and over the next seven years will see a total of £3.5bn invested into the rural economy and the environment. Existing environmental stewardship and the English Woodland Scheme

Its new Environment Secretary Liz Truss, brought in

are to be replaced by a new single National Environmental

last month following a wider than anticipated Ministerial

Land Management Scheme (NELMS).

reshuffle, is likely to continue to focus on the Government’s key aim of promoting economic growth. One of her first public announcements was to help commit Central Government to buying fresh, locally sourced and seasonal food to benefit British farmers and small business.

FACTS AND STATS The estimated total of UK food and drink wasted in

She said of the £400m initiative: “This will help drive growth

the food chain is around 15m tonnes/year or around

in Britain’s first class food and drink industry and benefit the

15 per cent of the overall total.

environment through reduced waste....

In 2011, three of the 12 farmland bird species,

“This is a huge boost to British farmers and producers and

analysed as part of the UK Farmland Birds Index

for our students, patients and employees who want to enjoy

1970-2011) had declined to a tenth of their 1970

fantastic food.”

figure (grey partridge, turtle dove and corn bunting).

As the third Environment Secretary during the current

The Government is one of the first in the world to

Coalition administration, she and the Department face tough

introduce a network of Marine Conservation Zones

challenges in the run-up to the next election. Defra’s annual

around the English coast. 27 MCZs were designated

budget has been cut by £500m to around £2.5bn since

in November 2013 in the first tranche. They will

2010 and further resource savings are on the horizon. As

help restore habitats and species through greater

one of the smaller Whitehall departments, which does not

protection

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

A sustainable food chain: innovation and flexibility Panel Discussion, sponsored by Certis Europe | 16:25 – 18:25 on 3 September 2014 at The Farmers Club, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL

ood security and nutrition are high on the agenda for policy makers across the globe. With drivers such as population growth and climate change to

Talk 3

and sustainable diet for the population of our cities? What

Speaker: Adam Staines, Joint Head, Agriculture, Food and Land Use Sector, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

innovations can we expect?

The challenge of producing more from less: what basic

Chairman for the Panel discussion: Malcolm Crabtree,

research is being funded by BBSRC and the other

independent farming professional

Government Research Councils to ensure food security

be confronted there are huge challenges ahead. What is being done to address these challenges? What is the future of our food supply? How will we provide a safe, nutritious

There will be six 8 minute talks around the subject of food security – a sustainable food chain producing healthy and nutritious food. This will be followed by discussion. Talk 1 Speaker: Tim Benton, Global Food Security Champion

globally. To include the BBSRC Food Security Research Strategy which includes waste.

Talk 4 Speaker: Calum Murray, Lead Technologist, Sustainable Agriculture and Food, Technology Strategy Board (TSB) The challenge of ensuring basic research is picked up and taken to an applied level. What applied research is the TSB

The Challenge: Why is food security important globally,

funding and what innovations can be expected in the short

what are the challenges we have to overcome/ what is

and medium terms to ensure global food security.

sustainable intensification? What factors does this involve – agricultural production, environment, biodiversity, water, energy, land for recreation, carbon footprint, all are involved.

Talk 2

Talk 5 Speaker: Duncan Sinclair, Agriculture manager, Waitrose

Speaker: Jonathan Pauling, Principal Policy Officer, Greater London Authority, supporting the implementation of the London Food Strategy

The challenge faced by a multiple retailer procuring a

The Challenge: at a local level (London): How will

Speaker: Caroline Drummond, Chief Executive Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF)

London be supplied with food, what initiatives and future plans are in place to provide its 10 million inhabitants with a nutritious and healthy diet.

sustainable supply of food during the next decade and beyond. What plans and strategies have you in place?

Talk 6

The Challenge: How will farmers and land managers produce food and environmental services sustainably to ensure global food security during the next 3 decades. ‘A sustainable food chain – a question of balance or trade-offs’.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

The Journalists’ Church St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street St Bride’s is the Parish Church for all in Fleet Street and the Media World – a busy, inclusive and thriving parish church in the centre of the City of London; an inspiring space in which the beauty of its architecture, the power of the liturgy and the weight of history all meet and enrich each other.

he Church of St Bride is justly world famous. To

During the Middle East hostage crisis of the late 1980s and

enter its doors is to step into 2,000 years of history,

early 1990s, it hosted all-night vigils for John McCarthy

which had begun with the Romans some six

and others, and on their release in 1991 a grand service

centuries before the name of St Bride, daughter of an Irish

of celebration was held. There have also been services of

prince, even emerged from legend to become associated

commemoration for numerous journalists who have given

forever with the site.

their lives reporting from war zones and troubled areas

The parish’s links with the media go back to the beginning of the sixteenth century when William Caxton’s assistant, Wynkyn de Worde, set up his press in a corner of the churchyard. Since then, the area has been associated with printing and publishing and, since the late nineteenth century, newspaper-making.

around the world, demonstrating St Bride’s unique position in international journalism. Every year we hold a service of commemoration for those journalists who have been killed or held hostage around the world, which is a much-valued gathering point for the industry. We hold regular memorial services for former journalists and executives, and over the years have

By 1989, all the national newspapers had decamped to

celebrated the lives of figures such as Clement Freud, Harry

more remote publishing centres; many people at that

Carpenter, Alan Coren, Marie Colvin and Derek Jameson,

time feared that the diaspora of the Fourth Estate might

and seasonal carol services for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Fleet

result in St Bride’s losing its title of the Cathedral of Fleet Street. Some even considered that the great church

Street. It will be no surprise to those who remember Don Gomery that St Bride’s hosted his memorial service, too.

would lose its parishioners. Fortunately for St Bride’s, the

Our links with the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists

national newspapers scattered in every direction rather than

go back to the 1970s and our annual Harvest Service, held

congregating in one locality, so that “Fleet Street” remains

in October, has grown into a showcase for the beauty of

to this day a generic term for the nation’s press. Moreover,

the space, the wonder of the choir and the warmth of the

the church retains its position as the spiritual home of the media, who are fully committed to its future.

fellowship.

www.stbrides.com

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

The Caledonian Sleeper

f you’ve ever flown British Airways’ Club World service and thought the ‘lie-flat’ bed placed you in the lap of luxury, you might be surprised that the sleeper’s bunks are a good

six inches more generous in each direction. What’s more,

Image.n mcnab

Pay attention to the length and width of the bunk in your cabin when you board the sleeper for our overnight journey to Aberdeen on day 3 of the pre-Congress tour, says Adrian Bell.

rather than the flying dormitory of your average wide-bodied jet, you’ll find far more privacy and comfort in these single or twin-occupancy cabins, and all for a fraction of the cost of a premium air ticket. Add to that a wake-up service, breakfast delivered to your door, and the promise of departing London in darkness only to wake up in the Highlands the next morning, and you might start to think that this will be one of the highlights of your visit to Britain. Think all this sounds too good to be true? You’re right. The drawback is that the Caledonian Sleeper is just one of two sleeper services remaining on the British rail network and, just a few years ago, was a service in danger of disappearing altogether thanks to continued lack of investment and plummeting passenger numbers. Using rolling stock dating

So board with an open mind and an open heart, for there

from the 1960s and 1970s, the train – which has been in

are no strangers aboard this train; its camaraderie is famous.

operation for 141 years – was running at a loss and catering

Enjoy a drink in the bar and get your appetite prepared for

for passengers who either adored its quirky style, or simply

Scottish food; whisky and haggis sell in abundance.

adopted the maxim of ‘grin and bear it’.

Journalists love it too, for it’s said that staying a while in the

But it’s come back from the brink. In May this year, when a

lounge car and keeping an open ear can reveal more about

new operating franchise was awarded to Serco – a company

what’s going on in the corridors of power than an entire

already operating luxury sleeper trains across Australia –

week spent in the Lobby Bar at the Houses of Parliament…

the Scottish transport secretary was sufficiently moved to declare the new service would ‘transform this iconic rail

Caledonian cribsheet

service’ and offer passengers ‘a unique, valued and high profile overnight service between Scotland and London’. Serco plans to invest £100m in building a new fleet of 72 carriages, which will boast en-suite cabins, ‘pod flatbeds’

When this train was built, a ‘smart phone’ was probably just a funky colour. Don’t expect to be able to charge yours onboard. The lounge car holds the dubious distinction of being

and a brasserie-style club car. Part-funded with £60m from

the only British railway carriages with freestanding seats

the Scottish Government, the new rolling stock will be

and sofas.

operational by 2018 and benefit from a collaboration with Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux to provide a ‘hotel-style service and an improved all-round travelling experience’. 2018, however, is still four years away; the four carriages in which the pre-Congress party will be sleeping on Wednesday

The train is effectively three-in-one – during the night, it splits into three separate sections, heading for Aberdeen, Fort William and Inverness. Make sure you’re in the right section when it divides… If you wake early, it’s well worth heading to the lounge

night will be some of the oldest British railway stock still in

car to enjoy the morning scenery – and the crossing of

regular fare-paying use. But that’s not to say it won’t be

the famous Forth Bridge, a famous symbol of Scotland

comfortable, nor memorable, for despite its shortcomings the

and despite its 124-years, still the world’s second-longest

sleeper retains a cult following and is held in great affection by

single cantilever bridge span. ‘Painting the Forth Bridge’

a true cross-section of society. Oil workers, peers, academics,

is a well-known British colloquial expression for a never-

walkers, landowners and politicians all regularly use the service.

ending task.

Innovations from a small island: pre-congress tour

Massey Ferguson Massey Ferguson extends a warm welcome to members

Much of this technology is developed thanks to Massey

of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists

Ferguson’s longstanding and close relationship with customers.

here in London and looks forward to hosting you during the

User opinions help drive innovation and ensure the machines

‘Innovations From A Small Island’ Congress.

precisely match their individual needs and expectations.

“The UK was the home of Harry Ferguson, one of the founding

Massey Ferguson has long played a key role in British farming

fathers of Massey Ferguson, who created one of the most

and has supported the Red Tractor food assurance scheme since

important innovations in farm machinery - the very first three-

its inception, more than 12 years ago. Most of the major brands

point linkage system, which is used on every tractor today,”

and supermarkets are now involved. Today more than £12 billion

says Campbell Scott, Director, Sales Engineering and MF

worth of food and drink carries the ‘little red tractor’ logo.

Brand Development.

Massey Ferguson provides tractors for Red Tractor to use at

Ever since this was introduced on the Ferguson-Brown in 1936,

events across the country to attract consumers’ attention and

Massey Ferguson has remained at the forefront of agricultural

help explain the huge efforts farmers put into producing food,

machinery innovations. More than 75 years ago Massey Harris

to not only the highest standards of quality and sustainability,

introduced the first self-propelled combine harvester and in the

but also with the upmost attention to animal welfare and

1990s, pioneered yield mapping on combines - paving the way

environmental care.

for today’s precision farming developments.

“Latest developments, such as mapping, job recording and

“We are a leader in the design and manufacture of tractor

data logging also help farms to keep the records needed for

transmissions and, more recently, the first to introduce

the traceability required for Red Tractor and farm assurance

Selective Catalytic Reduction technology on engines in

schemes. Labels not only show that food was produced in the

agriculture. We have just launched a completely new Global

UK, but often state the actual farm as well,” adds Mr Scott.

Tractor, which is another original innovation – applying 21st

“Now wireless transfer and telemetry make it much easier for

Century design, technology and engineering specifically for the

farms to gather, store and process records, not only improving

sub-100hp sector,” he adds.

accuracy, but reducing the workload.”

MASSEY FERGUSON TECHNOLOGY

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS FROM MASSEY FERGUSON

Tailored technology products for easier and more effective farming Contact your local dealer today or contact us on 01628 488 441 or uk.sales@AGCOCorp.com masseyfergusonglobal

@mf_eame

MasseyFergusonVideo B blog.agcocorp.com www.masseyferguson.co.uk

HAILO: a special offer for pre-Congress delegates It is the world’s most demanding training course for taxi drivers; some 25,000 streets within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross are covered. Added to that, a driver must also know the thousands of ‘points of interest’ along those routes, such as clubs, hotels, theatres, railway stations and so on. It even requires the applicant to know the specific

f you’re visiting London, you can’t fail to notice the ubiquitous London taxi. Traditionally only one colour, although increasingly appearing in any hue, the black cab, or ‘hackney

carriage’, is an institution that dates back to 1662 when horsedrawn carriages were first licensed as vehicles for hire.

order of theatres along Shaftesbury Avenue. It’s no surprise that applicants usually need at least 12 ‘appearances’ (attempts ) before passing. All this knowledge makes a black cab one of the easiest, as well as the safest, ways to get around above ground in London. So the pre-Congress committee is delighted to bring

Long before the era of satellite navigation, the London

you a special offer from Hailo – a free smartphone app which

‘cabbie’ always knew the best way around the streets of

puts you just two taps away from a licensed London taxi.

the capital. That’s because before they can acquire their licence, they must pass a test called ‘The Knowledge’.

Hailo has offered pre-Congress delegates a £15 ‘e-voucher’ to use with the app. To take advantage of

This demonstrates an intimate understanding of London’s

it, all you have to do is download Hailo from your app

geography; a driver must be able to respond to a

store, and then use the code ‘IFAJ14’ before

passenger’s route request immediately, without looking at a

5 September. There are only 50 codes available,

map, relying on sat-nav, or asking a controller by radio.

so be quick!

We’re Whisper.pr Our campaigns get attention. Our expertise is food, farming and the environment. Our work is seen in the UK, Europe and around the world. Common ground? Perhaps we can help you...

Whisper Consultancy Ltd T. +44 1608 637800 E. adrian.bell@whisper.pr W. www.whisper.pr

Delegate list and contact details Last Name

First Name Title

Company

Country

Anderson

Keith

Anderson & Associates

United States

krand88@sbcglobal.net

Andreasen

Gudrun

Fagbladsgruppen

Denmark

gudrun.andreasen@gmail.com

Baylor Anderson

Barb

Anderson & Associates

United States

anderagcom@sbcglobal.net

Behringer

Sally

MustangRED Communications

United States

sally@mustangred.com

*Bell

Adrian

Director

Whisper.pr

United Kingdom

adrian.bell@whisper.pr

Bowman

Rachel

Director

Seedbed Media

Australia

rachelb@seedbedmedia.com.au

Bratberg

Even

dr./Freelance

Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Norway

even.bratberg@nmbu.no

Cadogan

Stephen

Farming Editor

Irish Examiner

Ireland

stephen.cadogan@examiner.ie

Daynard

Kelly

Communications Manager

Farm & Food Care

Canada

kelly@farmfoodcare.org

Finnamore

Allison

Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation

Canada

allison@finnamore.ca

Frans

Ida

Micas & Editions

Belgium

Ida.Frans@telenet.be

Gaeta

Gabriel

Farm Journal Media

United States

gabe396@yahoo.com

Gattermayer

Fritz

AGRANA Beteiligungs AG

Austria

Fritz.Gattermayer@agrana.com

Gordea Liviu

Ferma

Romania lgordea@yahoo.com

Hansen Per Henrik Freelance journalist

Danish Food and Agricultural Journalists

Denmark

ph@perhenrik.dk

Hillyer

Gregg

DTN/The Progressive Farmer

United States

gregg.hillyer@progressivefarmer.com

Hillyer

Julia

DTN/The Progressive Farmer

United States

hogs2gregg@aol.com

Hinze

Guenther

VDAJ

Germany

hicomm@web.de

Horstmeier

Greg

Editor-in-chief

DTN/The Progressive Farmer

United States

greg.horstmeier@dtn.com

Hough

Cassandra

Rural Reporter

Australian Broadcast Corporation

Australia

cassiejhough@gmail.com

Ishii

Hayato

Senior Writer

Kyodo News

Japan

ishii.hayato@kyodonews.jp

Johansson

Lena

Editor

Federation of Swedish Farmers

Sweden

lena.johansson@lrf.se

Jonkheer

Egbert

Freelance agricultural journalist

The Netherlands

egbertjonkheer@gmail.com

Knapp

Katherine

Goldsmiths, University of London

United States

katie.knapp1@gmail.com

Lamp

Greg

CHS Inc.

United States

greg.lamp@chsinc.com

Leigh

Tamara

Shiny Bird Communications

Canada

tamara@shinybird.ca

Lewis

Pete

ABC TV News & Current Affairs

Australia

petelewisabc@gmail.com

Martin Carolyn Communications Manager

Communications & Marketing Australia

Australia

carolynjanemartin@gmail.com

Merlo

Catherine

Western & Online Editor

Farm Journal Media/Dairy Today

United States

cmerlo@farmjournal.com

Moore

Suzi

Communications Manager

CANEGROWERS

Australia

gypsy_suzi@hotmail.com

Mueller

Hans

Freelance

Switzerland hans.mueller7@thurweb.ch

Nieder Christel

Büro für Information und Kommunikation

Germany

chnieder@web.de

Nieder Helmut

Büro für Information und Kommunikation

Germany

h.nieder@t-online.de

Persinger

Harlen

Freelancer

hlensphotos

United States

hlensphotos@wi.rr.com

Rediger

Markus

Managing Editor

IFAJ /LID

Switzerland

rediger@lid.ch

Rediger

Marianne

LID

Switzerland m.rediger@bluewin.ch

Schaer

Lilian

Agri-Food Project Services Ltd

Canada

lilianschaer@agrifoodprojects.ca

Schmid

Colette

Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG

Switzerland

colette.schmid@sunrise.ch

Schmidt

Gerhard

Freelancer

Germany

imsgschmidt@hotmail.com

Schmidt Heidi Freelancer

Freelancer

Germany imsgschmidt@hotmail.com

Schulz-Willecke Renate

VDAJ

Germany

dghinze@web.de

Schwerdtfeger

Rolf

act Gmbh/VDAJ

Germany

r.schwerdtfeger@actgmbh.de

Scott

Jessica

Successful Farming

United States

jessica.scott@meredith.com

Shearon

Dolores

DTN

United States

dmshearon@gmail.com

Stringleman Hugh

NZ Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators

New Zealand

stringleman@internet.co.nz

Townsend

Samantha

NSW Farm Writers Association

Australia

samantha.williams@news.com.au

Van Outryve

Jacques

Boer&Tuinder

Belgium

jacques.van.outryve@boerenbond.be

*Venters

Howard

Publisher

Shepherd Publishing Limited

United Kingdom

howard.venters@gmail.com

Verhaeren

Jozef

Journalist

MICAS & Editions

Belgium

jef.verhaeren@telenet.be

Wallace

Carolyn

Partner

John Wallace Communications

United States

cskwallace@hotmail.com

Wallace

John

Partner

John Wallace Communications

United States

jwallacecom@sbcglobal.net

Werblow

Steve

Freelance Journalist

Steve Werblow Communications

United States

steve@stevewerblow.com

*Pre-Congress committee members

Freelance journalist

Assistant Member of Board

Editor In Chief

Editor Rural & Regional Reporter

Freelance journalist International Consulting

Innovations Editor

Journalist

Science to Secure the Future of UK Agriculture

For more information visit: www.bbsrc.ac.uk or email: press.office@bbsrc.ac.uk Follow us on Twitter @BBSRC

m ha

- Working with partners to accelerate the translation of research into practice

- Strengthening the UK’s internationally-respected skills base

- Maintaining and developing unique national facilities and resources

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- Supporting major strategic, long-term research programmes in top UK institutions

Each year, BBSRC invests over £90M on agricultural research and training on behalf of UK tax payers. This funding helps to underpin the agricultural industry by: The world’s longest-running agronomic experiments at Rothamsted Research continue to be an invaluable resource today. Inset: The discovery, by John Innes Centre researchers, of ‘synteny’ in cereals – whereby the location of blocks of genes can be located in similar positions within the genomes of different species – has been at the heart of wheat breeding research for the past 20 years.

The new £100M+ BBSRC National Virology Centre will build on research and disease surveillance programmes at The Pirbright Institute, which helped save UK farming an estimated £485M by keeping Britain bluetongue-free in 2008. Inset: Precise rainfall data collected at the North Wyke Farm Platform in Devon are being used to trial new grasses that may help reduce flooding.

A postgraduate training course at Harper Adams University College was named ‘Meat Course Training Scheme of the Year’. The course is supported by BBSRC’s AgriFood Advanced Training Partnership – one of four partnerships totalling £13M. Inset: Over the past 6 years, BBSRC has funded over 500 agri-food PhD studentships.

New technologies to optimise broiler genetic stocks are being developed by Cobb Europe together with researchers at The Roslin Institute as part of the £18M TSB/BBSRC Agri-tech Catalyst. Inset: BBSRC leads a number of public-private partnerships, such as the £7M Crop Improvement Research Club, that help to direct funding into areas that meet industry needs.