Dairy farmers will get to hear about future farming policy and quiz government ministers and experts in a free series of webinars organised by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF).
The Business and Policy Conference, sponsored by Barclays and ForFarmers, will again take the form of three bite-sized webinars taking place on November 30, December 1 and December 2.
The hour-long webinars hosted on Zoom will kick off at 10.30a.m, allowing farmers to complete the morning milking. Listeners can also put forward questions live to each speaker consisting of government officials, industry experts and farmers.
Farming Minister Victoria Prentis will lead the opening session on future policy, followed by a roundtable discussion on the future of farming.
The second webinar on December 1, will look at the importance of food labelling and includes the following speakers: Christine Tacon, chair or Red Tractor; Prof. Chris Elliott of Queens University, Belfast; and Caroline Drummond of the Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC).
Environmental challenges
The final session on December 2, looks at the industry’s environmental challenges, including information on the Clean Air Strategy and developments around permitting regulations.
Speakers include Kathryn Morley, policy advisor on climate change and agriculture at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Tom Judd, environment and business senior advisor at the Environment Agency.
Commenting on the conference, RABDF managing director Matt Knight said: “This year more than ever, it is crucial farmers and those within the industry keep abreast with what is coming down the line with regards to policy and business matters.
“UK agriculture is in a transition phase with the removal of subsidies and a huge focus on emissions and the environment.
The programme is centred around some of these major policy changes, so we hope it will offer some direction straight from the mouth of government to help direct what, where and when change is coming.
“The series of webinars are designed for dairy farmers as well as those involved in the dairy industry to keep everyone abreast of the challenges and opportunities ahead,” he said.
