The event will bring together industry professionals, academics, arable farmers and members of the NFU regional and national combinable crops boards across the UK to discuss the research and practicalities of a holistic integrated approach to the pest, weed and disease challenge for combinable crops.
NFU combinable crops board chair Tom Bradshaw will chair a panel debate as well as introducing presentations on the following topics:
- Overview of the Voluntary Initiative and the Sustainable Use Directive
- The importance of healthy and productive soils in crop production with reference to the government's 25-year Environment Plan
- Farmer success story: IPM practically on the ground
- An agronomist point of view
- AHDB - the Knowledge Exchange challenge
The panel session will provide an opportunity to address any cross industry questions from the floor. A networking lunch will be provided alongside an open educational session where organisations such as LEAF and academic researchers will showcase their latest work and be on hand to discuss what this means in the field.
If you are interested in attending this event please email the NFU crops team as soon as possible. Spaces are limited.
Why should I attend this event?
There is no doubt that much is to change over the coming years with the UK's exit from the EU. The future of farming is set to have the environment and a ‘green’ approach at its heart. The government's Health and Harmony paper and the 25-year Environment Plan add increasing pressure to the way UK agriculture operates.
IPM techniques are already delivering environmental goods that are key themes in the 25 year Environment Plan including:
- Improving soil health
- Improving water quality
- Increasing biodiversity
We need to better communicate both within the agricultural industry and to the public all of the positive influences UK farmers have on the countryside while also addressing any existing knowledge gaps that could aid the productivity and sustainability of future food production.
UK farmers and growers already implement an integrated pest management approach, utilising cultivation and management techniques like crop rotations and cover cropping and encouraging beneficial biodiversity populations with habitat creations to productively and sustainably cultivate crops.