The Agricultural and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has become the latest industry body to embrace change by joining Cereals 2018 as the official Content Partner.
“We are thrilled to have AHDB on board to support the new look Cereals Event in 2018,” says Jon Day, event director at Comexposium. “As the official Content Partner, AHDB will be involved with the development of our new content features, as well as providing expertise and information on industry issues, hot topics and themes covered by the event.”
Cereals will be held in Cambridgeshire on 13-14 June. Significant changes are being made to the event’s content and layout in response to industry feedback to restore Cereals’ place as the UK’s leading technical arable event.
“We see this new direction as a really positive move and are delighted to be part of the changes,” says Dr Martin Grantley-Smith, AHDB’s cereals and oilseeds strategy director. “Our stand will continue to reflect key agricultural challenges and showcase independent and robust technical, research and scientific information as well as on-farm learnings and innovation.”
At a time when the industry is facing much uncertainty, AHDB will be focusing on providing farmers with the right information and tools to get through Brexit and beyond, adds Dr Grantley-Smith.
The AHDB stand will be centre stage in the new agronomy area, alongside the event’s crop plots. Harper Adams University will also feature in this central area, demonstrating its Hands Free Hectare project, which is funded by AHDB – the only place it can be seen outside of the university in 2018.
“This year we will be providing live demonstrations of our Hands Free Hectare project, that tended and harvested a crop using only autonomous vehicles and drones,” says Dr David Llewellyn, vice-chancellor of HAU. “As the leading technical event for the arable farming industry, Cereals has always been an extremely important date on Harper Adams University’s show calendar.”
The AHDB will also be contributing to the new Cereals Conversation and Cereals Controversial seminar sessions. “These will provide growers with inspiration and highlight some of the most cutting edge technical research – putting them in the best position as we venture into the uncertainty of the next few years,” says Mr Day.
