Farmers 7 Club NEW YEAR 2017 • ISSUE 266
www.thefarmersclub.com
INSIDE Web guide p8 House of Lords p9 Novel nutrition p10 Brexit tool-box p12 Distribution issues p14 Brazil’s livestock p16 Romanian land in figures p18 Chef’s suppliers p19 Under 30s p20 Club Calendar p24
INSERTS Members information sheet Mozart Candlelit Requiem St George’s Day Luncheon Monday Evening Lectures
West Wales chairman Tim Bennett chairman for Club’s 175th year (p6)
www.thefarmersclub.com for the latest Club news
Contents
Farmers Club Over 170 years of service to farming
3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL Patron – Her Majesty The Queen
FRONT COVER Chairman Tim Bennett and his wife Susan have an exciting programme planned for the Club’s 175th year, including events at the wonderfully refurbished premises in Whitehall Court and around the country Photography: scrivphoto@btinternet.com www.agriphoto.com Disclaimer: The articles published in The Farmers Club Journal do not necessarily reflect the views of The Farmers Club. No responsibility for the quality of goods or services advertised in the magazine can be accepted by the publisher. Advertisements are included in good faith. All rights reserved.
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3 Chairman’s Comments
Plans for an eventful Club year
4 Club News
Dr Tina Barsby wins Club Cup. New committee members elected
6 Chairman Tim Bennett
From dairy farming in West Wales, via the NFU, Dairy Co and the Food Standards Agency, to Chairman of the Farmers Club
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8 Internet savvy?
How to get more from your Club on-line
9 Chief Scientist
Sir Mark Walport spoke at the Club’s House of Lords Luncheon
10 Novel nutrition
Busting the nitrogen-fixation barrier to secure lower cost yields
12 Brexit – time for a toolkit
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Farmers Club guide to the great Brexit farm policy debate
14 Agchem issues
The heat is on in the farm pesticides distribution sector
16 Farming in Brazil
Food producer for the world goes from strength to strength
18 Farming figures
Romanian farmland could be a fertile investment
18 Leadership challenge
How the Farmers Club Charitable Trust supports tomorrow’s industry leaders on Windsor Leadership courses
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19 Chef ’s page
Cured meat delicacies are this issue’s focus
20 Under 30s Diversification
Lavender, apples and hops energise a north Kent farm
21 Under 30s Farm Walk Arla dairy and Waddesdon Estate provide food for thought 22 Club Information and Contacts 02 • The Farmers Club New Year Journal 2017
Chairman’s Comments • Tim Bennett It is great to be able to hold most of our events at the Club this year, due to our larger kitchen and function facilities, including the St George’s day lunch.
Chairman’s Comments “2017 will be a critical time to engage in the debate about the future of agriculture, horticulture and the food supply chain.”
THIS is my first article as Chairman and I want to thank Richard Butler on behalf of the members for all his work last year. It was wonderful to be able to work with Richard again and I am keen to continue to progress his priorities from last year as part of my programme for 2017. What an exciting year to Chair the Farmers Club, as it will be our first full year of operations since the Project CREST refurbishment of our premises in Whitehall Court, our 175th year as a Club in December, and a critical time in 2017 to engage in the debate about the future of agriculture, horticulture and the food supply chain following the referendum. Leadsom visit The Club is apolitical but we will be having speakers who will talk about impacts, opportunities and hopefully create debate amongst our members. I am delighted the Secretary of State at DEFRA is going to come to speak to members in April, and we have speakers from banking, the food service sector, and science already in the timetable.
Beyond 2020 Regardless of the debate about farm support post-2020 we know the markets for food will change. Globalisation means volatility is now inherent in the food commodity trading system. Consumers assume traceability, safety and quality of food purchases, and will continue to have raised expectations. We also know the ability to innovate and to seize opportunities, plus access to worldclass science and knowledge exchange leading to raised productivity, will be even more important post-Brexit. Let us hope solutions emerge in 2017 that give us confidence for the future of UK food production. CIEL for livestock I have recently become Chairman of CIEL, one of the agri-tech centres being supported by Innovate UK. CIEL, through Innovate UK, is investing public funds into new applied research centres for all the livestock sectors. CIEL intends to work closely with CHAP, the agri-tech centre for the crops side. The funding is significant and we must ensure the new research facilities deliver knowledge that benefits the industry. On a personal note, Sue and I are looking forward to meeting as many Club members as possible, not only at London Club events, but also at events around the UK, and in particular at the key agricultural shows. We are having a Club visit to West Wales in June as part of our programme and we are looking forward to welcoming members to the town of Llandeilo and the beautiful Towy valley. Hopefully, the weather will behave for the visit! I am writing this at the end of November, on deadline, in the farm office – looking at the sunny dry weather and thinking about all the work I have to do before darkness sets in. What a difference a year makes. This year the ground is dry and cattle are still out with grass available. Last year we were already nearly a month into our wettest spell of weather since I started farming, when we had over 80 rain days in a row, and even for South-West Wales that was exceptional.
Club Contact Card Members should have received their handy Farmers Club contact card late last year, detailing key Club telephone numbers, including Reception, General Office, Finance, Membership, Bedroom, Restaurant & Function Reservations and Events/U30s. On the flip-side is your all-important Club membership number, to assist with reservations and unlock added-value features on the Club website – www.thefarmersclub.com – including Club news updates, on-line bedroom and event booking, checking and paying your account on-line, and participating in Club debates. To register just visit the site, click ‘Members Area’ at the top of the left-hand menu, click ‘Register’ at the bottom of the LOGIN menu, and follow the on-screen instructions. Should you have any queries contact Membership Secretary Mark Fairbairn e-mail: membership@thefarmersclub.com tel: 020 7925 7102.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 03
Andrei Spence • Club News
Club News Club is becoming a ‘nicely busier’ place The last few weeks of 2016 proved to be hectic in every way at the Club. Following careful preparation and analysis, I presented the 2017 budget to the General Committee who met to consider and ultimately approve its content. The following week we welcomed Prue Leith as the guest speaker at the annual Ladies lunch, before about 100 members headed to the House of Lords for our annual lunch the day after, where Government Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Mark Walport gave a most provocative and challenging talk (see p9) and we presented the Farmers Club Cup to Dr Tina Barsby (see right). There is no doubt that the Club is becoming a ‘nicely busier’ place. On numerous occasions it has been great to see functions in the Farmers Suite, Forty Room and Committee Room taking place at the same time as lots of members meeting and chatting in the Lounge (often over a bar lunch), a pretty full service in the Restaurant, a bustling and lively Bar, and maybe a
rather more reflective atmosphere in the Shaw Room. Walking through the Club there is a tremendous, and often contrasting, atmosphere – depending on where you are in it. Hot on the heels of the New Years Eve Black Tie Dinner (always a fabulous event against possibly the most spectacular backdrop in the UK) and the Chairman, U30s Chairman and myself heading to the Oxford Farming Conference, our first Club event of the year is due on Friday 20th January with a performance of Giselle at the London Coliseum, ahead of a Friday afternoon event on the 27th, which incorporates a lecture in the Club and a tour of an exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery entitled ‘Portrait of the Artist’. And just like that, we are into February! I hope that you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas with family and friends and that you were able to let in a new year that will be successful and rewarding to you all.
Upcoming Events Whilst final details are being compiled, I would like to bring your attention to three future events. The Club will be conducting a three day/two night visit to West Wales on 5-7 June inclusive. The visit will encompass items of horticultural, agricultural and architectural interest and will be based around the beautiful town of Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire. The Club will also be embarking on a two day/one night visit to the Gloucester area on 17/18 May to visit a number of food producers, which will also incorporate a visit to the inspirational Gloucester
04 • The Farmers Club New Year Journal 2017
Services, to see first-hand a very different form of farm diversification, land use and local produce procurement. There will be full inserts, details and costs in the next copy of the Journal. Also, as I trailed in the December e-Newsletter (do let us have your email address if you did not see this), our first Monday Evening Lecture of the year will take place on Monday 23rd January from 5.30pm-6.30pm. Our speaker will be Mr Allan Wilkinson, Head of Food and Agriculture (Large Corporate) at HSBC. The evening will be preceded by tea and coffee from 5.00pm, with wine and canapes after. The cost will be £17.50 per person and contact/booking should be made via Lisbeth Rune at events@ thefarmersclub.com or 0207 930 3751.
Leadsom to visit Club As part of the Farmers Club Monday Evening Lecture series the Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP, Secretary Of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is to give a talk to Club members on Monday 24th April, with a Q&A session after her comments. The evening will start with tea and coffee at 5.30pm and the talk and Q&A commence at 6pm. Wine and canapes will follow from 7 - 7.45pm. The cost of this event is £17.50/head. Booking form enclosed.
Prue joins Farmers Club Ladies for lunch The Farmers Club Ladies Luncheon took place on Monday 14th November, in the newly renovated Farmers Suite, where 28 of the Club’s ladies were hosted by Mrs Sue Butler, wife of our 2016 Chairman. Ms Prue Leith – restaurateur, BBC Great British Menu judge and food writer – was the guest of honour and speaker. Whilst she may be best known for her food and cookery writing, she provided a candid and disarmingly honest talk covering many areas of her life, including her burgeoning career as a fiction writer. Many thanks to Teresa Wickham for facilitating Prue’s attendance.
Club News • Andrei Spence
Club Calendar Diary Dates Tina Barsby wins Club cup
Please check the dates carefully as they sometimes change and new dates are added for each issue. Details of Club events circulated in the previous issues are available from the Secretariat on 020 7930 3751. For more information on Club events, including further details on these events and new events as they are added to the Calendar, visit the Events area of the Club website www.thefarmersclub.com JANUARY 2017 Monday Evening Lecture Monday 23rd January
Dr Tina Barsby is the winner of the 2016 Farmers Club Cup, presented annually to an individual or organisation that has made an exceptional contribution to British agriculture. Evening Lecture
“Since 2008 Tina has been Chief Executive of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany in Cambridge, overseeing NIAB’s merger with The Arable Group (TAG) and transformational work to ensure it is a centre of enormous importance for British agriculture,” Club Chairman Richard Butler commented as the cup was presented at the Club’s annual House of Lords Luncheon. He particularly commended Dr Barsby’s ability to translate complicated scientific work into a form that can be easily understood. Dr Barsby is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Biology, a governor of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge and an Associate Member of the All Party Parliamentary Group looking at Science and Technology in Agriculture.
BALLOT RESULTS Following the ballot for members of the General Committee last autumn I am pleased to announce the following have been elected: Kevin Beaty – Cumbria John Lee OBE – Devon Karen Mercer – Staffordshire Christopher Riddle – Cornwall Allan Stevenson – East Lothian (re-elected) Campbell Tweed OBE – Co Antrim (re-elected) Keith Redpath – Roxburghshire
Golf in 2017 The Farmers Club Golf Programme for 2017 is now available, and will be emailed to all members on the golf email list. It can also be found on the club website at www.thefarmersclub.com/golf
Early evening lecture in the Club from Allan Wilkinson, Head of Food and Agriculture (Large Corporate), HSBC. Bookings via website, events@thefarmersclub.com or 0207 930 3751.
FEBRUARY Grand Opening of the Club Thursday 2nd February Opening of the Club by HRH The Princess Royal. Application details in Club e-newsletter, on website or tel 020 7930 3751.
Grand Opening
Under 30s New Members Dinner, Winter Event & AGM Friday 24th to Sunday 26th MARCH Mozart’s Requiem by Candlelight Friday 17th March
Under 30s Winter Event
Supper in Club followed by Mozart’s Requiem by Candlelight at St Martin-in-the-Fields. Application form included with this issue.
Under 30s Spring Dining Evening Friday 30th March APRIL St George’s Day Lunch Friday 21st April Mozart’s Requiem
Lunch in the Club with guest speaker Admiral Sir J C K (Jock) Slater GCB LVO DL. Application form included with this issue.
Monday Evening Lecture Monday 24th April Exclusive briefing from DEFRA Secretary of State Andrea Leadsom. Application form included with this issue. St George’s Day
MAY Balmoral Show Event Tuesday 9th May Details to come.
Gloucestershire visit Wednesday 17th & Thursday 18th May Insight into local food chains and a novel retail diversification. Details and application form in next Journal. Andrea Leadsom
JUNE West Wales Visit Monday 5th to Wednesday 7th June Insight into agriculture, horticulture and architecture around Llandeilo. Details and application form in next Journal.
West Wales Visit
Highland Show Dinner Wed 21st June Details to be confirmed.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 05
Charles Abel • Chairman Profile
Food chain focus for new Club Chairman Our chairman for 2017 has an eventful year planned as the Club celebrates its 175th year. Charles Abel reports
TIM BENNETT is Chairman of the Farmers Club for 2017, bringing a wealth of experience of all sectors, and all levels, of the industry, with considerable knowledge of the way all the sectors connect to create the food supply chain that serves UK consumers so well. He is first and foremost a first generation farmer from near Carmarthen in south-west Wales, who has run dairy, egg and pedigree beef enterprises. But he has also done a great deal for the industry beyond the farm gate.
06 • The Farmers Club New Year Journal 2017
Chairman Profile • Charles Abel From 1998 to 2006 Tim was Deputy President and then President of the National Farmers Union England and Wales, where he led the organisation’s move into state-of-the-art headquarters in Stoneleigh, whilst retaining an investment property in London, giving the organisation a very sound financial base for the future. From 2007-2014 he turned to the knowledge transfer sector, chairing AHDB’s dairy sector levy body, Dairy Co. It was whilst there that he received the prestigious Dairy UK Industry Award. At the same time he turned his attention to issues across the whole food chain, serving on the board of the Food Standards Agency since 2007, and most recently as its Chairman. Indeed, Tim has experience of most sectors of primary agriculture, and of local retail sales, as well as a wide knowledge of the food supply chain. He was a Director of the Welsh Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, an organisation that provides practical on-farm nature conservation advice, and is a member of the Agricultural Land Tribunal for Wales. He was a governor of the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research between 2000 and 2006, and has also been a board member of the Meat Hygiene Service.
for the year ahead to help members both prepare for the changes Brexit will bring, and also take an active role in influencing them. Llandeilo visit in June One of the highlights of Tim’s year as chairman will be a two-night, three-day visit to his area of south-west Wales scheduled for June, based around the small market town of Llandeilo situated on the attractive River Towy in rural Carmarthenshire. “The aim of the visit is to highlight the inter-connectedness of the whole food supply chain, with visits planned to the local college’s dairy unit, and an estate specialising in beef and sheep production.” Tim points to the massive investment that has been made to refurbish the Club’s prestigious premises beside the River Thames in central London, through last year’s Project CREST, and encourages members to make full use of the considerably enhanced facilities. “The timing could not have been better,” he says. “Now, more than ever, the Club needs to be a place to gather to discuss and debate and influence the changes the industry faces, and last year’s refurbishments make it a very conducive place to do just that, as well as to relax with friends and family.”
“The Club was formed to debate the issues of the day, and is now perfectly placed to address the impact of the Brexit vote on farming and the food supply chain, in what will be the Club’s 175th year.”
He is a Director at National Livestock Management Database Ltd, a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society and Fellow of the Institute of Grocery Distribution. Livestock Innovation Most recently Tim became Chairman of the Centre of Innovation Excellence in Livestock (CIEL) in late 2016. This new body is one of the government’s four Agri-Tech centres, looking to drive innovation in the agricultural sector by delivering applied research through new government-sponsored investment with University partners in the UK. Bringing that wealth of experience to the Farmers Club Tim has masterminded a vibrant year of activities (see Calendar on the back cover of this issue of the Journal for just some of the events planned). “When I joined the Farmers Club I considered it a privilege, so to become its chairman is a very great honour indeed, especially in the Club’s 175th Anniversary year,” he says. Indeed, the Club is not only set to celebrate 175 years of its existence, since its formation on 9th December 1842, but also 75 years since it moved into its current premises in Whitehall Court. The Club was originally formed to debate the farming issues of the day, and after the UK’s momentous decision to leave the EU, which will have profound implications for farming and the food supply chain, Tim has adapted his programme
2017 Chairman Tim Bennett – a south-west Wales farmer and former NFU President, former Chairman of the Food Standards Agency, and Chairman of the newly formed CIEL for livestock innovation.
“It’s almost the unique selling point of our Club, that it is a friendly, family Club. I intend to do my best to maintain that in 2017.”
Members club Indeed, the Club is first and foremost a members club, which puts members first, and has evolved for the benefit of its members. “There have been no revolutions. It’s almost the unique selling point of our Club, that it is a friendly, family Club. I intend to do my best to maintain that in 2017.” In his leisure time Tim enjoys walking, reading, following West Bromwich Albion football club and looking after the grandchildren. His wife Susan is a private healthcare administrator, while son James is employed in financial services and daughter Vicky is employed as a secondary school music teacher in Wales.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 07
Charles Abel • Internet
1. WEBSITE REGISTRATION
2. TWITTER REGISTRATION
You may already be aware that the Club website – www.thefarmersclub.com – keeps members up to date with key Club information. But by registering for the Members Area you can also: • Book a room on-line • Book an event on-line • View and pay Club Statements on-line • Join the Club Debate
Twitter is a great way to keep in touch with friends, commentators and key industry organisations, including the Farmers Club via short messages, usually with links to more information, delivered straight to your computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone.
Registering is easy. Go to the dropdown menu on the left side of the Club website, click on MEMBERS AREA, and click REGISTER as shown (left). Now enter the following details: Member Number: «Member_» Email address: «Address» Your Membership Number appears on the Club Contact Card mailed to members last November; on the front of your Journal envelope; or contact Membership Secretary Mark Fairbairn membership@thefarmersclub.com (020 7925 7102).
Joining is easy at www.twitter.com – follow the on-screen instructions (or download the App if you are an App user). The website will invite you to create your own Twitter account, with your own Twitter ‘handle’ nickname, prefaced with the @ symbol. You will be shown how to post your own short messages, and more importantly, how to ‘follow’ other people and organisations, so you never miss out on what’s going on again. Accounts worth following might include @TheFarmersClub, @NFUTweets, @DefraGovUK, @FarmersWeekly and @FarmersGuardian. Follow topics by searching for a ‘hash-tag’ – the topic preceded by a hash sign – #farming #brexit Happy tweeting!
Once your details have been verified, you will receive an email with a link to create your own password. Make it memorable, make a note of it and keep it safe – you will need it to log-on.
Internet DIY# @ FARMERS Club members are finding the internet increasingly useful. If you haven’t joined the move to online here’s some useful pointers: Internet issues? The General Office can be contacted if you are struggling to register for the Club website or access the Club on Facebook or Twitter – email: generaloffice@ thefarmersclub.com (020 7930 3751).
08 • The Farmers Club New Year Journal 2017
3. FACEBOOK REGISTRATION Facebook is another way of keeping in touch, mainly with friends and industry organisations, including the Farmers Club. Facebook delivers short messages, often with a photo, and sometimes with a link to more information. Joining is easy at www.facebook.com – follow the on-screen instructions (or download the App if you are an App user). This time your user account displays as your own name. As with Twitter the key is to ‘follow’ other people and organisations, especially ‘The Farmers Club Page’. Again, you can follow topics using a hash-tag #farming #brexit
House of Lords • Charles Abel
Embracing science Evidence is key to scientific debate, but must be set in correct framework – Government Chief Science Adviser, Sir Mark Walport.
technological advances could deliver the “win-win” of increased production, lower input costs and greater sustainability. Plant and animal science was advancing at an extraordinary pace, with genomics and more precise performance monitoring helping greatly. The UK was at the forefront of this technology. But it was not at the forefront of applying such advances, at scale, in the field, within the UK, he asserted. “There is in the farming world no equivalent of medicine’s National Institute for Clinical Excellence, for example, and no systematic equivalent of what are known as the Cochrane Reviews, which oversee the adoption of new medicine.” He extolled the virtues of rigorous evidence reviews, noting their potentially valuable role in policy formation, around neonicotinoid insecticides and bovine TB, for example.
“My take home message is clear – science, technology, engineering and the social sciences are crucial for the present and future of farming. But we will only gain the maximum benefits of these if they are effectively applied.”
THE Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Mark Walport, delivered a powerful address and fielded a wide range of questions at the Farmers Club’s annual House of Lords Luncheon, hosted by His Grace the Duke of Montrose. He hoped science would be at the heart of farming, but took issue with the suggestion that farming was already the ‘technologically driven powerhouse of rural communities’. The creation of the new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy meant it was an important time for science, engineering and technology, he noted. “They are at the heart of it, because everywhere we look we see them transforming industries.” But farming faced two big challenges. First, it had to balance science with the wider demands of society, and second, it needed to ensure good science was taken up more efficiently. He suggested there was significant room for progress on both counts. Adopting a scientific approach was crucial, and the huge data sets flowing from information technology would help greatly, he said. Indeed,
“Science is an integral part of the story, but it is very rarely the whole story,” he continued. Policymakers had to consider evidence in the light of deliverability, and human values, be they personal, religious, political or the perceived values of the electorate. “It is not surprising that neonicotinoid use at a time of global bee and insect decline is strongly contested. Similarly, it is no surprise that badger culling at a time of environmental awareness excited by extraordinary images from Planet Earth 2 and live images from Autumn Watch becomes an emotive issue. “What really frustrates me is the conflation of discussions about science, with discussions about human values in respect to the application of that science. It is completely ridiculous to consider GM organisms, for example, as a generic good or a generic evil.” The framing of the discussion was crucial. He felt it appropriate to frame such discussions around the big global challenges of providing food and clean water to 7 billion people; global warming; minimising waste; and maximising resource productivity. “The statement about farming being the ‘technological powerhouse of rural communities’ is there for the taking. But it isn’t there quite yet. Science tells us what can be done, but it doesn’t tell us what should be done. That is a discussion for all of us.”
www.thefarmersclub.com • 09
David Dent • Soil nutrition
Bacteria (black dots) distributed within the root cells of maize.
Close-up of the allimportant bacteria Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus.
Professor Ted Cocking of the University of Nottingham.
Fixing the Nitrogen Issue A novel approach to crop nutrition could bring significant benefits, reports Club member Dr David Dent, Founder Director of Azotic Technologies
“It was the culmination of a lifetime’s work trying to get nitrogenfixing bacteria to function throughout a range of nonleguminous crop plants.”
A TECHNOLOGY based on a non-GM, safe, naturally occurring bacteria that can colonise and fix nitrogen in virtually any row-crop, and thereby significantly reduce the need for nitrogen fertiliser use while maintaining crop yields, may seem fanciful. That the same technology has been independently demonstrated to enhance crop yield in wheat and maize by around 1t/ha may then seem too good to be true! However, this is the reality of a discovery and technology invented by Professor Ted Cocking of Nottingham University, which is under commercial development by Azotic Technologies, a UK company with its laboratories based in BioCity Nottingham. Ted Cocking’s research in this field first came on to the radar with a publication in 2006 that claimed intracellular colonization and nitrogen fixation in a
10 • The Farmers Club New Year Journal 2017
whole range of crops by a symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacterium called Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus, or ‘Gd’ for short. However, this publication did not come out of the blue. It was the culmination of a life-time’s work trying to get nitrogen-fixing bacteria to function throughout a range of non-leguminous crop plants. Ted is a Fellow of the Royal Society and is internationally acclaimed for his cell tissue culture research that started in the 1960s. This helped to define how to remove the rigid plant cell walls with enzymes and then to re-grow whole plants from these single cells. Based on these techniques Ted was interested to see if he could encourage Rhizobia bacteria, which normally only inhabit cells in the nodules on the roots of legumes, to inhabit all cells of non-leguminous plants, particularly wheat, maize and rice.
Soil nutrition • David Dent Such a capability would have great agricultural value because Rhizobia are nitrogen-fixing bacteria that can take nitrogen from the air and transform it into ammonia, which the plant can use, thereby largely removing the need for nitrogen fertilisers. Ted was encouraged in this field of research by Nobel Laureate, the late Norman Borlaug – the ‘Father of the Green Revolution’. After many years of research, and by his own admission, Ted was notably unsuccessful in achieving his aim with Rhizobia, realizing that it required a different kind of bacterium to do the job he wanted. Thankfully, the lessons he had learned enabled him to identify exactly the type of bacteria required. When in 1988, from across the world in Brazil, Gd was discovered in sugarcane Ted realized its full potential and searched for strains of the bacterium that could be encouraged to intra-cellularly colonise cereal roots and leaves (left).
Independent field trials across the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Spain, USA and Canada, undertaken by contract research organizations to normal industry standards initiated in 2015 have started to demonstrate the full potential of the N-Fix technology, showing increased crop yields in addition to the benefit of reduced nitrogen fertiliser use (below). This offers the potential for operational, environmental and yield benefits to farmers and growers. These trials are continuing and expanding in scope throughout the UK with our commercial partner Gleadell Agriculture Ltd in wheat, barley and oilseed rape as well as further trialling with these crops and maize in, mainland Europe and North America and rice in SE Asia, over the next couple of years. Azotic’s first seed treatment product for application to wheat is expected to be released on the UK and US market during late 2018.
He and his team spent a number of years optimizing this process, which resulted in the University filing a patent.
First, however, there was a need to develop a suitable formulation and that required financial investment. In 2012 Azotic Technologies Ltd was formed, bringing together the combined experience of Peter Blezard (CEO), Mike Panteli (finance) and Allen Sheena (marketing), and myself as Chief Technology Officer, to license the University’s technology and to secure the first $1m to develop an initial formulation – N-Fix. In 2013 the application of N-Fix as a liquid inoculant to the seed of ryegrass (amenity and pasture), wheat and oilseed rape provided the first positive indications of field performance. In the absence of any nitrogen fertiliser application to the field-scale plots successful plant colonization by the bacterium was found to ensure crop yield was held up to a level equivalent to a 50% reduction in nitrogen fertiliser. This was more than sufficient to justify further investment. A scale-up of our R&D to further explore the potential of this technology, and to expand our field trials programme, led in March 2014 to Azotic moving into the officially named ‘Ted Cocking Laboratories’ in BioCity Nottingham, with a team of scientists, agronomists and research assistants, (including staff in the USA) to optimize the use of N-Fix and other innovative formulations of the bacterium for use in a range of crops.
Spring Wheat, UK - 2015 8
7
Yield (t/ha)
In 2011, having been asked by the University to review the commercial potential of this patent, it was clear that if the bacterium could be formulated and applied to seed to deliver results in the field, similar to those found in the laboratory, then the value to global agriculture would be enormous.
“Rhizobia are nitrogenfixing bacteria that can take nitrogen from the air and transform it into ammonia, which the plant can use.”
6
5 N-Fix® Control
More yield from less fertilizer: dotted line represents yield at recommended rate of N fertilizer, with bars showing variation around mean values.
4 0
25
50
75
100
N% level
AZOTIC TECHNOLOGIES Azotic Technologies was established to develop and commercialise a natural nitrogen technology that provides a sustainable solution to fertiliser overuse. Its N-Fix technology is based on the food-grade nitrogenfixing bacteria Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus (Gd), derived from sugarcane, which can be applied to crops as an inoculant or a seed dressing to create a symbiotic nitrogen-fixing relationship for mutual benefit. The company is commercialising the technology through appropriate partnerships in R&D and routes to market, and believes this patented disruptive technology could have a huge impact on agriculture.
Dr David Dent, Chief Technical Officer and Founder Director of Azotic Technologies.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 11
Howard Williamas • Brexit
Brexit toolkit “Brexit is Brexit” so the days of Common Agricultural Policy in the UK are numbered. Long-standing Club member Professor Howard Williams considers the implications
“There are known knowns – things we know we know. There are known unknowns – things we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns – things we don’t know we don’t know.” After Donald Rumsfeld, US Politician
WHAT can we distil from all the ‘noise’ of Brexit to inform our thinking about the key influences on farming post-2019. Clearly, UK agricultural policy is to be redrafted to reflect the opportunities and threats of leaving the European Union. New trade agreements are to be negotiated. How we farm will be impacted. But just how to make operational and investment decisions amidst such uncertainties and higher risks is far less clear. In November 2016 George Eustice, Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food addressed the Club and highlighted the basis for a new agriculture policy – good practical insights, rigorous analysis and input from farmers. His stated aim is a policy that frees farmers from the inhibiting effects of the CAP and to establish a policy that is the envy of the world rather than merely to seek a ‘level playing field’. “Known knowns” So, what do we ‘know’ about this new world? We ‘know’ the system of Single Farm Payments and related CAP subsidies will go, and payments to farmers will not be based on subsidies and inducements; other payment mechanisms are likely to be used.
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We also know a significant hole will remain in government finances, so any reforms are likely to cost less than the current CAP regime, which in 2015 was close to £6bn including single farm payments and rural development project funds. We also know there is a need to better integrate production, environmental protection, food security and retail distribution to provide incentives for farmers to innovate and share risk across the whole supply chain. Similarly, national solutions to environmental issues are felt to be flawed, so there will be a greater focus on specific localities for bringing together different policy areas, e.g. river basins could be the geographical basis of a policy mix designed to optimise outcomes for soil, farming, water, flood protection and environmental enhancement. Grey areas We know of some grey areas too. The Minister and Prime Minister have stressed the importance of Brexit and a subsequent transition period. But how long will transition last? We know Government wants to introduce policy measures that ameliorate risk, thereby freeing farmers to make decisions that optimise the outcomes on their farms – but how?
Brexit • Howard Williams
Brexit toolkit Useful material at www.thefarmersclub.com/brexit • Farming Unions/food industry letter to PM • Farming Unions ‘Brexit Vision’ • FT on farming post-Brexit • Trade deal challenges, The Economist • Department for Exiting the EU • Agri-business post Brexit • Brexit and environment schemes • Brexit in 7 FT charts • Nick Clegg on Brexit • DEFRA
Potential models, such as those in Canada and Australia, have limitations and may not be easily applied here. The UK depends on a diverse, professional and skilled labour force, at times a transient and seasonal labour force, yet there is widespread support for tighter immigration controls – how will this circle be squared? We have exacting and globally recognised standards, ranging from pesticides to animal welfare; these need to be protected, but not to our detriment – so how will we ensure these standards enhance our competitiveness? Trade deals Negotiating new trade deals will, as is customary, be a fraught and prolonged process. The specific question of the ‘Irish border’ will be a key issue; Ireland accounts for close to 30% of our agriculture trade, it is our biggest trading partner. So, how will this ‘border’ operate?
Club perspective During 2017 the Club’s increasingly popular Monday Evening Lectures will provide more excellent opportunities for members to secure privileged Brexit insights, and provide direct feedback to those involved in the framing of farming’s new policies (see p4). The Club will also make available good Brexit commentary and wellinformed opinion, using the Club Journal, website and social media postings (see p8), to help members anticipate and react to Brexit opportunities, and identify and adjust to Brexit threats. The Club will be an ideal place, as ever, for formal and less formal meetings with those who will shape future agricultural policy. But what is clear is that the Club will not make representations on its own behalf. Its interest is to foster better understanding – for members and policymakers alike.
Will agricultural trade be treated as a whole, or will certain commodities be singled out; whisky and salmon account for more than 25% of total UK agricultural and food exports to Europe.
government? In essence, what concessions will be sought for agriculture against gains/losses in other sectors? Second, how will the remaining EU members react? Will EU members retaliate with subtle or not so subtle non-tariff barriers?
Finally, what of our “unknown unknowns”? Two areas stand out. First, where will agriculture fit in the broader negotiating position of the UK
Brexit opens a significant opportunity for Club members to voice their opinion on the future of agriculture in the UK.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 13
Agrovista • Sponsored Article
Agronomy insight Crop agronomy is undergoing enormous change. New technology promises much, but tightening legislation and a tough market are hitting core agrochemical business. In this sponsored article Agrovista explains its vision.
OVER the past 40 years agronomy companies have built successful businesses by providing crop protection advice based on a comprehensive armoury of agrochemistry. Increasingly, this core business is under threat. Tougher regulation, particularly in the EU, has reduced a steady flow of new products to a trickle, and hastened the demise of many valuable actives. The acghem business won’t disappear overnight, but agronomy companies will have to broaden their offer to survive, explains Chris Clayton, managing director of Agrovista. “The rate of innovation in the agchem sector has slowed dramatically, as legislation has tightened. A lot of chemistry has also come off patent, which is fundamentally taking value out of the market.” The level of manufacturer consolidation – Dow and DuPont, ChemChina and Syngenta, Bayer and Monsanto – demonstrates the challenging times, he says. Concentration of power “That is a huge concentration of power. It is not all bad – it provides critical mass to sustain a true R & D platform, but that money is increasingly being invested in the seeds and traits area, seen as the future growth model.
Chris Clayton – Managing Director of Agrovista.
“We have to adapt – we cannot sustain the necessary returns to shareholders by focusing solely on crop protection chemistry.” Mother Nature is also having an impact, Mr Clayton adds. “For 20 years we have been operating unsustainable crop rotations of earlydrilled wheat and rape. The grass-weed burden we now see, primarily black-grass, is a direct result of that. Some is now impossible to control with the chemical options that remain.” The role of the agronomist is changing rapidly, and the pace will accelerate as more senior staff, who started out in the late 1970s and 80s, when the agchem market took off, retire or move on. “That’s why we are investing in youth, the agronomists of the future, taking up to 10 trainees a year,” says Mr Clayton. “Agronomy is becoming a very different job, providing different services across a broad scope of activity. “We invested in Ebbage Seeds last year, making it easier to introduce seed into our technical programmes and work with varieties in our agronomy development, which we can then tie into end markets.
Precision farming services can help.
14 • The Farmers Club New Year Journal 2017
“We are developing our nutrition work, and biostimulants are an important area. We are also spending a lot of time and money developing alternative methods to tackle problem grass-weeds, using cover crops and spring cropping, so farmers
Sponsored Article • Agrovista
Cover crops are just one way of helping arable agriculture.
Changing times demand a changing on-farm agronomy service. can continue to farm productive and profitable cereal-based rotations. “We are also very conscious of the problems facing oilseed rape, and are working hard to develop non-chemical techniques to improve the crop’s viability.” Precision farming One of the biggest areas of spend is precision agriculture and IT. Agrovista has a variety of integrated services, backed by a range of hardware and software tools, which help target inputs more effectively, Mr Clayton explains. “Farmers of the future are going to demand this and more – they will need agronomists to be much more IT savvy than now. Some early adopters have really embraced this, but most farmers struggle to understand the benefits. “Farmers need good advice. We can help growers make sense of the mountain of data derived from drones, satellites, tractor-mounted sensors and other sources and turn it into practical farm information.” One big question remains – how to turn all this work into income. “It’s a good question. A lot of the work we pioneered with cover crops was copied. Protecting investments is a huge problem, and we have to be cognisant of that. “That is why we are also bringing new technology to the industry that is easily transferable onto farm in one or two seasons. This includes novel spray application methods to enhance chemical performance, alternative spring cropping and developing new markets for existing chemistry. Without that, it would be very difficult to get a return. “We’ve seen that in the area of precision farming. It’s been a long-term process, and most of us still haven’t quite got into the black.”
Brexit – route to better legislation? Brexit could result in a more science-based approach to agrochemical legislation, potentially opening the door to new products and preserving existing ones, Mr Clayton believes. “R&D companies are unwilling to undertake late-stage development in the EU, due to the legislators’ insistence of looking at hazard, rather than risk.
“Agronomy is becoming a very different job, providing different services across a broad scope of activity.”
“The UK government is one of the few in the EU that bases its decision on scientific evidence. But, with France voting down just about everything, and Germany usually abstaining, getting a qualified majority is very difficult. “We can only hope the UK government will continue to adopt a science-based approach post-Brexit. This will incur the wrath of the green lobby, so the farming industry will have a huge role to play in balancing the argument. “A strong farming lobby will be far more effective than an industry lobby, which is automatically discounted due to self-interest.”
Sponsored article This article is produced in collaboration with advice and supply company Agrovista, sponsor of the Farmers Club Journal envelope.
“The agchem business won’t disappear overnight, but agronomy companies will have to broaden their offer to survive.” www.thefarmersclub.com • 15
Olivia Midgley • Brazil
BRAZIL
Brazil has emerged as an agricultural powerhouse in recent years and its growth ambitions show no sign of abating. Olivia Midgley reports.
THE scale of Brazilian agriculture is quite astonishing. Individual farms cover thousands of hectares, employing dozens of workers and a host of machinery. Its farmers’ hunger for greater efficiency has helped Brazil become one of the leaders in global agriculture and experts believe it is well placed to increase production further as the world’s population increases. Rodrigo Chibor, facility manager at Perkins Engines, which manufactures almost 1 million engines for a range of industries including agriculture, says: “Brazil is gearing up to serve a population of 9.5 billion people in 2050. While farmers in other big producing countries such as India and North America can often be hampered by the weather, Brazil enjoys a good climate. While we have seen some dry years in certain regions recently, on the whole we get enough rain.” Brazil accounts for just over 7% of global agricultural exports and is the world’s third-largest exporter of agricultural products, behind the European Union and the United States.
Brazil’s Agriculture • 1990 push to cut subsidies, eliminate export taxes and increase Ag R&D boosted on-farm investment. Sector now globally competitive and Brazil’s largest exporter – a bright spot in a nation of 205m people hit by deep recession, political chaos and Zika virus. • 2016 estimates record soya, coffee and sugarcane crops, near record maize, and new heights for beef, poultry and pork exports. • Sector output up 1.6%, overall GDP down 3.8%. “Farms and ranches kept economy going during bad years.” “The whole world has to eat and Brazil makes its living from agriculture.” • 30% slide in value of Brazilian Real (to 1US$ = 3.60R) helped exports undercut EU and US production in 2015/16. • Big rises in plantings for 2017 harvest include wheat (+14.5%); maize (+5-10%); and soybean (+6.5-8.5%). Source: Wall Street Journal, Rio Times, xe.com
16 • The Farmers Club New Year Journal 2017
As the second-largest producer of soybean in the world, its largest export is soybean products, followed by sugar and ethanol, meat, coffee and cereals. While cattle farming remains a key industry in Brazil, farmers in some areas are scaling down meat production and planting crops instead. They see it as a better use of the land. Furthermore, limits on deforestation are a major factor restricting further expansion of agricultural areas. Since 1970 more than 600,000 square kilometres of the Amazon was destroyed to make way for food production. But Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture has set key targets to safeguard the environment and its natural resources, including legislation limiting the amount of land that can be farmed on an individual holding, with set-aside often accounting for 25% of the land area.
Brazil • Olivia Midgley
Beef on a grand scale It is not uncommon for cattle units to run thousands of head of cattle and Jacarezinho, set up in the 1980s in the north-eastern state of Bahia, is a fine example of beef production on a massive scale. The 46,000 hectare farm runs Nelore (Bos Indicus) cattle, with 7,000 breeding cows and 17,000 animals in total. About 80 employees – all local men and women – are responsible for the day to day running of the operation. Due to the farm’s size, cattle are separated into groups, or as they are known in the bush, ‘reteiros’, depending on their age and sex. There are about 1,250 cows in each reteiro, divided into groups of 250 animals. Calving is synchronised and starts on October 20. Calves are weaned at about 190 days on average. Empty cows and bulls are fattened on feed lots to about 22 months.
Dairy NZ-style plus Brazil may be one of the world’s largest dairy producers, but it is also one of the largest importers of dairy. This so-called dairy deficit is what prompted New Zealand farmer and Leitissimo founder Simon Wallace to visit Brazil in the late 1990s and seek out a farm in which to play out his dairy farming model. Centred around cost, quality and location, Mr Wallace’s vision was to grow the New Zealand dairy farm without being bound by geographical limitations. “We call it ‘nature on nitrous’, it’s making the most of the tropical climate, particularly the 2,700 hours of sunshine each year, appropriate ‘kind’ temperature and low humidity, and plentiful water,” he adds. The farm is divided into 11 individual irrigated farms or ‘pivots’ of 56ha each, running 550 cows. The cows, a cross-breed of New Zealand Jersey and Friesian genetics, produce 4-4,500 litres of milk per lactation. The entire farm produces 60,000 litres a day, all processed at the farm’s on-site, state-of-the-art facility and shipped all over Brazil.
Sugarcane Low rainfall in the main sugarcane producing regions – São Paulo, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Goiás and Paraná – has plagued growers in the past 12 months, although many have been able to invest in adequate irrigation. The country produces about 600 million tonnes of cane each year, which equates to about 34 million tonnes of sugar, accounting for approximately 20% of global production and more than 40% of world exports. Strong sugar cane production has also seen Brazil become the world’s second largest producer of ethanol. Together with the Unites States it produces 83% of the world’s ethanol.
Coffee fix As a mass exporter of coffee, Brazilian growers are keen to fulfil the world’s seemingly unquenchable thirst. Brazil produced about 2.75 million tonnes of coffee last year and as
tastes become more refined, demand is growing for higher quality blends. While the industry has made headway in raising the efficiency of its mechanical harvesting techniques, like all growers, quality is very much dependant on the
weather and, in particular, plentiful water at flowering time. With a distinct lack of rainfall in the past three years – Bahia saw about half its usual rainfall in 2015 – growers are coming under immense pressure to deliver.
Farmers Guardian News and Business Editor and British Guild of Agricultural Journalists (BGAJ) member Olivia Midgley visited Brazil thanks to the Perkins Global Innovation Scholarship, which enables journalists and communicators to see farm innovation and technology in distant countries
www.thefarmersclub.com • 17
Jane Craigie • Leadership
Farming Figures A look at... the potential of the agricultural land market in Eastern Europe, especially in Romania...told through a few key statistics
€2-3,800/ha Cost of small parcels of land in Romania
16% Annual growth in Romanian land values
12-fold
Growth in land values in Poland over past 15 years, from €1,000/ha to over €12,000/ha
Double Increase in land value from consolidating small parcels into reasonable block of 40ha or more
US$ 20,800
GDP per capita in Romania; land sales can significantly boost family spending-power
3.8 million
Agricultural holdings in Romania, of which only 0.5% farm more than 50ha
– 4.1%
Forecast change in UK farmland values to 2020
4.8t/ha
Wheat yield achieved by foreign farmers in Romania, compared to 1.9-3.3t/ha by locals
€615million Rabobank funds aimed at acquiring and managing farmland in Poland and Romania (21,000ha in 2016) for Dutch/US pension funds
19 million t
Windsor course delivers incredible insights.
Leadership vision Through the vision of the Farmers Club Charitable Trust, with very generous support from Stella Muddiman and Paul Bush, 17 agriculturalists have participated in courses offered by the Windsor Leadership Trust over the past five years. The WLT aims to provide inspirational programmes for leaders from all sectors of society, who have, or will have, the potential to shape the future of their own organisations, and society as a whole. The Farmers Club Charitable Trust has helped expose leaders and emerging leaders from the farming sector to other leaders in society, including people from the clergy, military, healthcare, charities and commerce. Comments from farming participants: “The Windsor experience was beautiful in its simplicity – laid bare, it was people, their passions, their experiences, and their perspectives, that created the special impact that it has had on us all. The people I met on the Emerging Leaders Programme – both speakers and our cohorts – challenged how and what we think, how our values drive our
leadership styles and what we can use our passion and vision to achieve.” “One of our external speakers - Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone, Commander of the NATO Allied Maritime Fleet – will be my lasting memory of Windsor. In three hours he taught me so much of the ‘human’ in leadership – to believe in one’s own abilities, to use politics wisely, one’s intuition should always be trusted, delegate what you’re bad at, and say ‘thank you’ often – and because you really mean it. One of the most inspiring people I have ever met.” Club event open to all The 17 WLT farming graduates, with support from the Farmers Club Charitable Trust, are hosting an event open to all agriculturalists interested in learning more about the WLT programme and leadership within the farming sector, at the Farmers Club on Monday 13 March, at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Those interested in attending should email Nick Green NickGreen@ lyecrossfarm.co.uk or James Cross elmdonfarm@btconnect.com. Jane Craigie jane@janecraigie.com
Annual cereal production in Romania; maize 8mt, sunflowers 1.85mt, oilseed rape 1.4mt Sources: Brown & Co, Farmers Weekly, Savills, www.cibusfarmlandclub.com, www.grain.org
18 • The Farmers Club New Year Journal 2017
WLT participants: Andrew Brown, Alastair Butler, Adrian Cannon, Jane Craigie, Lyndon Edwards, Alex Godfrey, Nick Green, William Haire, Alan Laidlaw, Sarah-Jane Laing, Peter McDonald, Matthew Naylor, Emily Norton, Ian Pigott, Charmay Prout, Caroline Ratcliff and Ian Tremain.
Chef’s notes • Paul Hogben
Succulent cured meats Farmers Club Head Chef Paul Hogben visited Moons Green Charcuterie to discover a little more about some of the fine British food we serve in the Club Restaurant
MOONS Green Charcuterie specialises in handmade cured meats, made by two artisans working in a world dominated by chemists and factories. As their website says: “We have a cure for people who are fed up with factory food.” It all started when former ad-man, winemaker, food writer and rare breed pig farmer John Doig started making chorizo in his garage at Moons Green in the Kentish Weald. A couple of years later you can find him in the middle of a busy butchery in Northiam, East Sussex. His business partner is the Portuguese chef José Azevedo, a veritable hurricane of invention and culinary inspiration. John lived and worked in New York, Asia and the South of France before coming to England with his two youngest children. He’s driven by the idea that a British school of meat curing will lead to exciting new flavours and products. He is concentrating on celebrating Britain’s great advantage; the best pork in the world. José was born and brought up on the island of Madeira before emigrating to the finest kitchens in London as a 16-year old. He worked for many of the top chefs en-route to becoming Head Chef at a range of renowned restaurants like Asia de Cuba in London and ultimately the Swan at Chapel Down. It was in this last restaurant that John found Jose and dragged him into his butchery to work his magic and bring a chef’s imagination to cured meats recipe development.
John and José are leaders of the new British Charcuterie movement, making an amazing array of fabulous saucissons, bacons, hams and uniquely British cured meats. We serve their beer sticks in the Club Bar, while their wild fennel, cob nut & red wine saucissons, British nduja (spicy, spreadable pork salami) and air dried paprika pork loin, are all to be found on our Moons Green cured meat platter. All products are hand-made using traditional methods, only using the finest free-range British pork, purchased directly from farms in Sussex. Interestingly, John and Jose create every recipe, stuff every stick of Moons Green Saucisson, grind their own spices, hand rub every cure into each pork buttock, loin, collar and bacon slab that Moons Green makes. As they say: “The secret to everlasting life is to use both hands. A glass of something you like in one hand and a Moons Green beer stick in the other. One bite and 15 seconds later there’s a small chilli kick to make you smile.” Find out more at www.moonsgreen.co.uk
To book a table in the Restaurant call: 020 7930 3557 Option 3 or email: restaurantmanager@thefarmersclub.com or asstrestmanager@thefarmersclub.com
www.thefarmersclub.com • 19
Mary Tait, Chairman; Charlotte Harris, Vice Chairman; Lisbeth Rune, Secretary • U30s
Chairman’s Jottings Happy New Year! I hope all members have had a wonderful Christmas. We have a very exciting program of events for 2017, details of which will follow in the next issue of the Journal. In the meantime our next event is the New Members Weekend, 10-12 February 2017, which will include a Black Tie Dinner, the U30s AGM and a theatre trip in London’s West End. Please also keep an eye out on the Inter-Club website for more London-based events, or speak to our Inter-Club reps Alexandra Day and Hannah Moore to find out more. I would like to encourage all U30s to like The Farmer Club facebook page and register on the Farmers Club Website. This will ensure you are kept up to date with Club news, can view photo galleries, book bedrooms online and also register for events. You should have all received your Club Contact Cards, which include your membership number – all the information you need to register online. We have two committee member spaces on the 2017 U30s Committee. I would encourage anyone who might be interested to apply. Please look out for the email from Lisbeth. We had an excellent Dining evening in November, with guest speaker Mr Nick Barnard, co-founder of Rude Health, a full write up of which will follow in the next Journal.
Contact Mary for more information Mary Tait U30 Chairman Job Title: PA to Lord Malloch-Brown Where: Piccadilly, London www.thefarmersclub.com /under-30s marycharlottetait@gmail.com
07538 082517
20 • The Farmers Club New Year Journal 2017
North Downs diversification
DAZZLING lavender, red heritage apples and splendid bines of English hops underpin a thriving diversification enterprise for a north Kent farm, as Under 30s member Crispin Alexander explains. Castle Farm lies within the Kent North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the London greenbelt, with a variety of soils including chalky slopes, clay with flints and alluvial loam across our 1200 acre family farm close to the River Darent. This geography has traditionally suited mixed farming, with arable crops and permanent pasture for beef cattle. However, we have diversified to include lavender, apples, hops and pumpkins, alongside over 10% of the farm under stewardship schemes for environmental benefit. Being less than 20 miles from Westminster Bridge, our farm shop, The Hop Shop, benefits from a large local population. Through the shop, its website www.hopshop.co.uk and social media we are able to market our diversification enterprises, especially the lavender. Most of the 85 acres of lavender is mechanically harvested for the valuable oil, which is extracted in our on-site steam distillery. In July, these
fields look mesmerizingly purple and visitors flock to The Hop Shop, which stocks lavender products ranging from fresh bunches to lavender flavoured foods. We also offer scenic picnics, al fresco aromatherapy massages, photo shoots and educational tours. We grew hops for brewing until 1999, when they became uneconomical. Today, we grow them for alternative markets, including decorative uses in pubs, weddings and on film sets, with our skill and experience enabling us to preserve their bright green colour for yearround sales. As far as we are aware, our small apple orchard is the world’s only registered commercial orchard of the Norfolk Royal variety. The bright red colour, shiny skin and fantastic flavour of this heritage apple brings year-on-year regulars to our pick-your-own weekends, with any surplus juiced, bottled and sold through The Hop Shop. This wide range of crops keeps us extremely busy from June until the last pumpkins are picked at Hallowe’en. The focus then turns to the shop for the run up to Christmas. In the spring months we can take a breather, catch up on all the background jobs and plan our next diversification ideas!
U30s • Mary Tait, Chairman; Charlotte Harris, Vice Chairman; Lisbeth Rune, Secretary
Buckinghamshire farm walk Graham envisions further consolidation, which could lead to dairy farms getting bigger. It was also very promising to hear Arla has a specific team focusing on Brexit, to monitor and assess the effect on the business, how this will affect the market, agricultural policy, labour and future generation schemes. Perhaps the most fascinating, and rather out of this world, part of the milk production process was the unit where milk is transferred to crates for loading onto lorries. This entire warehouse had a maximum of three people working in it. Robots moved every container of milk, knew where each crate of milk needed to be, and if there was a spill knew to stop and wait in ‘charging areas’, all as part of their job! A big ‘thank you’ to Graham and his colleagues for hosting the U30s and also to Allan Wilkinson for introducing us to his Arla contacts. We headed to Tring in the afternoon for a tour and tasting around Tring Brewery, followed by a Tapas Banquet in Wendover that evening.
Arlagarden Standards These sustainable principles sit above Red Tractor standards, and all members must meet them. A number of supermarkets have their own higher set of standards, which Arla also adheres to. www. arlafoods.co.uk
MEMBERS of the U30s headed to Wendover in Buckinghamshire for the Autumn Farm Walk, where the weekend began with dinner and drinks, meeting new members and catching up with old friends, write U30s Chairman Mary Bell and U30s Committee Member Bradley Etchell. Arla Dairy Bright and early on Saturday morning we set off for Arla in Aylesbury, where we were hosted by Graham Wilkinson, Arla’s senior director of member relations (owners of the business). He had travelled down from the North East just to host us on a Saturday morning – we felt very honoured. We were intrigued to learn Arla is the fifth largest global dairy, with a membership of over 12,700 farmers. It is a co-operative farmerowned business and farmer’s income is shared evenly. One in four British dairy farmers is an Arla member, providing the UK’s largest milk pool, producing over 3 billion liters of milk per annum.
Waddesdon Farms Sunday morning saw the group take a short drive to Waddesdon Estate, home of Lord and Lady Rothschild. Waddesdon Manor, a nineteenth century Neo-Renaissance masterpiece, is now managed by the Rothchild foundation on behalf of the National Trust and attracts over 400,000 visitors each year. The group was given an introduction to this multifaceted estate by manager Edward Parsons, followed by an overview of in-hand farming by the farm manager, who manages just over 4,000 acres and 1,200 ewes. There was a clear emphasis on renewable energy, with biomass boilers and solar panels featuring in the farmyard. We also had an insight into Waddesdon’s wellknown stud yard, which has created some of the country’s most famous race horse winners, and Windmill Hill Archive, a very modern addition, indulging Lord Rothschild’s passion for modern art and architecture, which provides office and conference space with very fine views. A convivial pub lunch followed before everyone went their separate ways.
www.thefarmersclub.com • 21
The Farmers Club • Club Information
Club Information
020 7930 3557 • www.thefarmersclub.com Office Holders
Mozart Requiem by Candlelight
Patron – Her Majesty The Queen HONORARY VICE PRESIDENTS Peter Jackson CBE, Roddy Loder-Symonds, Sir David Naish DL, John Parker THE COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE CLUB 2017 VICE PRESIDENTS Barclay Forrest OBE, Mark Hudson, Norman Shaw CBE, Mrs Susan Kilpatrick OBE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN Tim Bennett TRUSTEES Jimmy McLean, Mrs Nicki Quayle, Julian Sayers (Chairman), Paul Heygate VICE-CHAIRMAN Peter Jinman OBE HONORARY TREASURER Richard Maunder IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN Richard Butler CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND SECRETARY Andrei Spence CLUB CHAPLAIN The Reverend Dr Sam Wells COMMITTEE Elected 2015: Tim Bennett, Matt Dempsey (Communications Sub-Committee), Richard Maunder, Gerald Osborne Elected 2016: Robert Alston, Andrew Brown (Membership Sub-Committee), Lindsay Hargreaves, Nick Helme (House Sub-Committee), Peter Jinman OBE Elected 2017: Kevin Beaty, John Lee OBE, Karen Mercer, Keith Redpath, Christopher Riddle, Allan Stevenson (re-elected), Campbell Tweed OBE (re-elected). Co-opted: Mary Tait (Chairman Under 30s), Charlotte Harris (Vice Chairman Under 30s) THE FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST TRUSTEES Stephen Fletcher (Chairman), John Kerr MBE DL, James Cross, Vic Croxson DL, The Chairman and Immediate Past Chairman of the Club (ex officio)
NEXT ISSUE The Spring issue of the Farmers Club Journal arrives in mid-March, with all the latest Club news, including a report on the Club’s first Monday Evening Lecture of 2017, in which Allan Wilkinson, Head of Food and Agriculture (large Corporate) at HSBC, will examine prospects for the industry in the light of Brexit; plus a fresh look at the work of the RSPB.
22 • The Farmers Club New Year Journal 2017
Friday 17 March St-Martin-in-the-Fields church just off Trafalgar Square in central London is the venue for a wonderful evening of entertainment by candlelight in the company of the English Baroque Choir, the Brandenburg Sinfonia Orchestra and Jeremy Jackman as Conductor, including Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue in C Minor, Ave verum Corpus, Serenade in D ‘Serenata notturna’, and Requiem. Jeremy Jackman’s wide experience of singing, as soloist, in select groups like the Tallis Scholars and The Sixteen, and during his decade with The King’s Singers, informs his work as a conductor. Our programme starts at 5.00pm with a two-course supper with wine in the Club, before strolling across to St-Martin-in-the-Fields at 6:15pm, ready for the concert, which runs from 7.00 to 9.00pm. This event is limited to 36 places. Cost per person is £70.00. All applications should be received by 27 January 2017. If oversubscribed places will be decided by ballot. To register interest apply on-line at www.thefarmersclub.com or complete the booking form enclosed with this issue.
St George’s Day Lunch Friday 21 April 2017 Admiral Sir J C K (Jock) Slater GCB LVO DL has agreed to be the guest speaker at our St George’s Day Lunch, to be held at 12.00 for 12.30 on Friday 21st April 2017, at the Farmers Club. Sir Jock is an excellent and entertaining speaker, with a proven military and operational pedigree across the globe, having commanded several types of naval vessels, been a NATO military Commander, and Vice Chief of Defence staff, before becoming the First Sea Lord. The cost of the tickets is £65/head, to include pre-lunch drinks, wine with your meal and a threecourse luncheon prepared by our own excellent Restaurant team. Tickets will be sold on a first come first served basis, with a maximum of two tickets available per member. If you would like to attend this fine annual event, please either return the booking form enclosed with this Journal, or call Mrs Lisbeth Rune on 0207 930 3751. Dress for gentlemen is lounge suit.
Club Information • The Farmers Club Deaths It is with regret that we announce the death of the following members: Mr R Clifton-Brown Suffolk Mrs E Cooke Hertfordshire Mr D Cray Cornwall Mr W Cumber Oxfordshire Mr J Mackie Surrey Mr N Murray Smith Isle Of Wight Mr T Parton Essex Professor W Richards Nigeria Mrs H Robinson Yorkshire Mr D Stevens Sussex Mr M Thompson Leicestershire New Members The following were elected: UK Members Lt. Col S Bartlett Mr M Bell Mrs K Boffey Ms C Brown Miss L Cardwell Mr J Cash Mrs B Chattey Mr S Chisholm Mr J Cotton Mr N Cross Mr R Davies Mr E Dawson Professor K Denby Mr J Derryman Professor R Edwards Mr R Fife Mr R Grant Miss R Hansford Mr S Hathway Mr H Heeley Mrs V Hoddinott Mr D Jones Mr A Laing Mr T Lewis Mr M Lumsdon-Taylor Mr P Marshall Mrs A Moran Mrs E Moss Mr G Murray Mr P Nicholson Professor J Price Mr J Purser Mr K Roberts Mr G Sanderson Mr M Sansom Mrs J Taylor Mr P Turner Lady B Vaux of Harrowden Mr B Waddilove Mrs H Warner Mr D Webster Mr K Williams Mr C York Overseas Mr K Bond Mr S Hartvig Jensen
Somerset Down Shropshire Gloucestershire Cheshire Warwickshire Dorset Yorkshire Herefordshire Suffolk Herefordshire Cheshire Yorkshire Wiltshire Durham Yorkshire Cambridgeshire Dorset Hampshire Glamorgan Yorkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Kent Kent Cumberland Yorkshire Somerset Suffolk Armagh Gloucestershire Surrey Devon Northumberland Warwickshire Hampshire Devon Dumfriesshire Oxfordshire Wiltshire Sussex Hampshire Devon
Under 30s Ms J Altham Mr R Bowyer Miss L Clabburn Mr P Collins Mr A Cotterill Mr A Gowen Mr H Guest Miss L Hancox Miss K Holloway Mr G Jibson Mr J Lockwood Mr H Mayman Mr P Miles Mr G Padfield Mr J Ross Mr A Sapsford Mr W Sapsford Mr F Soulhol Mrs K Speke-Adams Mr D Ward Mr C Weir Miss R Westerhuis Mr W Whittaker Associate - Whitehall Court Mr O Koshikov Ms S McCann-Bartlett
Cumberland Cumberland Norfolk Essex Cambridgeshire Hertfordshire London London Worcestershire Yorkshire Lincolnshire Devon Suffolk Essex Kent Sussex Sussex Lanarkshire Herefordshire Shropshire Hertfordshire Essex Essex London Surrey
Website Registration Whilst the Club has around 5400 members, only 1717 of these have so far registered with the website – www.thefarmersclub.com The site offers the opportunity to keep fully up to date with all that is happening at your Club, to book events, book bedrooms, see your account on-line, and pay it if required. To get the best from the site you do need to register – which is very easy – simply visit the site, click the ‘Members Area’ tab at the top of the left-hand menu, click ‘Register’ at the bottom of the LOGIN menu, and follow the on-screen instructions. Should you have any problems do contact the General Office, e-mail: generaloffice@ thefarmersclub.com tel: 020 7930 3751.
Club Contacts THE FARMERS CLUB
Over 170 years of service to farming 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL
Chairman 2017: Tim Bennett
Chief Executive and Secretary: Andrei Spence
Club Number 020 7930 3557 Reception ext: 200/201 reception@thefarmersclub.com Bedroom Reservations ext: 204 reservations@thefarmersclub.com Restaurant Reservations Option 3 restaurantmanager@thefarmersclub.com or asstrestmanager@thefarmersclub.com Conference & Banqueting Liza Keoshgerian ext: 109 or direct line: 020 7925 7100 meetings@thefarmersclub.com Events & U30s Lisbeth Rune ext: 103 events@thefarmersclub.com Club Manager Virginia Masser ext: 102 clubmanager@thefarmersclub.com Head Chef Paul Hogben ext: 111 or direct line: 020 7925 7103 chef@thefarmersclub.com Financial Controller Zarreena Neeson ext: 106 or direct line: 020 7925 7101 financialcontroller@thefarmersclub.com Membership Mark Fairbairn ext: 107 or direct line: 020 7925 7102 membership@thefarmersclub.com PA to Secretary Claire White ext: 104 or direct line: 020 7930 3751 generaloffice@thefarmersclub.com Bedrooms ext: 3+ [two digit room number] eg. ext 301 for Room1 Whitehall Court Porters 020 7930 3160 Fax 020 7839 7864 Website: www.thefarmersclub.com THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Editor and Advertisement Manager: Charles Abel 07795 420692 E-mail: editor@thefarmersclub.com Designed and produced by: Ingenious, www.ingeniousdesign.co.uk No film or film processing chemicals were used. Printed on Lumi Silk which is ISO 14001 certified manufacturer. FSC® Mix Credit. Elemental chlorine free (ECF) fibre sourced from well managed forests
Overseas Overseas
www.thefarmersclub.com • 23
2017
Club Calendar Diary Dates Please check the dates carefully as they sometimes change and new dates are added for each issue. Details of Club events circulated in the previous issues are available from the General Office on 020 7930 3751. For more information on Club events, including further details on these events and new events as they are added to the Calendar, visit the Events area of the Club website www.thefarmersclub.com
Evening Lecture
JANUARY 2017 Monday Evening Lecture Monday 23rd January
JUNE Juan Diego Flórez Friday 2nd June
Early evening lecture in the Club from Allan Wilkinson, Head of Food and Agriculture (Large Corporate), HSBC followed by wine and canapes. Bookings now open: see website, events@thefarmersclub.com or phone Events Manager Lisbeth Rune on 0207 930 3751
Supper in the Club and transfer to Royal Albert Hall for an evening of Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Gounod and Latin American songs with world-famous tenor Juan Diego Flórez and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
Visit West Wales
West Wales Visit Monday 5th to Wednesday 7th June
FEBRUARY Grand Opening of the Club Thursday 2nd February Grand Opening
Opening of the Club by HRH The Princess Royal. Application details in Club e-newsletter, on website or tel 020 7930 3751.
Scottish Piper
Highland Show Dinner Wed 21st June
Under 30s New Members Dinner, Winter Event & AGM Friday 24th to Sunday 26th Under 30s Winter Event
MARCH Mozart’s Requiem by Candlelight Friday 17th March
Details to be confirmed.
Harvest Festival
Supper in Club followed by Mozart’s Requiem by Candlelight at St Martin-in-the-Fields. Application form included with this issue.
APRIL St George’s Day Lunch Friday 21st April Lunch in the Club with guest speaker Admiral Sir J C K (Jock) Slater GCB LVO DL. Application form included with this issue.
St George’s Day
Monday Evening Lecture Monday 24th April Exclusive briefing for Club members and guests from DEFRA Secretary of State Andrea Leadsom. Application form included with this issue.
Andrea Leadsom
MAY Balmoral Show Event Tuesday 9th May Details to come.
Gloucestershire visit Wednesday 17th & Thursday 18th May Juan Diego Flórez
Insight into local food chains and a novel retail diversification. Details and application form in next Journal.
JULY Club AGM Tuesday 4th July OCTOBER Harvest Festival Service Tuesday 10th October Service at St Martin-in-the-Fields and supper at Club after.
Under 30s Spring Dining Evening Friday 30th March Mozart’s Requiem
Fascinating insights into agriculture, horticulture and architecture around Llandeilo. Further details and application form in next Journal.
New Year’s Eve Party
DECEMBER New Year’s Eve Supper Party Sunday 31st December Supper party in the Club with a great view of the fireworks.
EVENTS ONLINE Details of all Club events are constantly updated in the Events section of the website www.thefarmersclub.com/events where tickets are easy to book.
Holiday & Weekend Opening Holidays and Weekends are great times to visit The Farmers Club, with good bedroom availability, a relaxed dress code and the sights of London on your doorstep. Book online at: www.thefarmersclub.com/accommodation