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InnovationsPre-Congress
31 August – 3 September 2014 . London
Andrea BeddowsPR freelancer
Trevor ClarkeEditor, The Clench & Liveryman, Worshipful Company of Farriers
Peter HillFarmpress - UK & Global farm machinery technical
& trade news
Jane KingEditor, Farmers Weekly
Jamie DayEditor,
AgriTrade News
Tony McDougalPublic relations
consultant
Cedric PorterDirector, Supply Intelligence and
Editor, World Potato Markets
Guide contributors (bGaj members)
sponsors
Day 1 SponsorPrincipal Sponsor Day 2 Sponsor Day 3 Sponsor
Welcome to Britain Dinner Sponsor Food & Drink Sponsor
Adrian BellPre-Congress chairman
IFAJ 2014 chairmanDirector, Whisper.pr
Howard VentersPre-Congress deputy
chair, Director, Shepherd Publishing
Gill NorrissCo-ordinator, food chain panel
session Guide contributor, Director, Sequitur
orGanisers
This issue4 introduction from the mayor of London
5 bbsrc: bioscience for life
6 London in facts and figures
8 London: a world-class city
9 the Farmers club
10 Liquid history: the river thames
12 Day 1 – GrowinG for the future
13 british society of plant breeders
14 the millennium seed bank
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
20 centuries of tradition meet at smithfield
21 Farming in the city of London
22 Farmers Weekly
23 the bbc
24 Day 3 – Science matterS
25 Certis Europe
26 Living Heritage: the Houses of parliament
28 rothamsted research
29 defra: the fourth emergency service
30 a sustainable food chain: innovation and flexibility
31 the journalists’ church
32 the caledonian sleeper
33 massey Ferguson
34 HaiLo: a special offer for pre-congress delegates
35 delegate list and contact details
WelcomeWelcome to London, and to the pre-Congress tour for the
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.
We’ve taken the view that pre-Congress should, as well as
providing you with valuable leads, stories and insights into
the host country’s food and farming industry, also act as an
introduction to the United Kingdom; in particular, your host
city of London.
It’s not enough that London boasts two thousand years of
history. It’s arguably amongst the world’s leading cities, on so
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
that point – in some way – to a progressive line of thought.
All of them are notable: whether for their longevity, a unique
approach, a pioneering spirit, their application of science and
technology. Innovation – the overall theme of IFAJ2014 – can
take many forms; our objective is to help you seek out, and
share with your audiences back home, the many different
ways in which British agricultural innovation manifests itself.
My deepest gratitude to our generous sponsors must not
pass unnoticed. Our headline sponsor, BBSRC, and our three
‘day’ sponsors – BSPB, EBLEX and Certis Europe – have
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
be British, tasty and abundant.
It’s an absolute pleasure to have you here – 52 delegates, from
15 countries – at the Farmers’ Club, in the official home of the
British Guild. I look forward to reacquainting old friends and
making new ones as we enjoy the next three days together.
adrian bell, pre-Congress chairman
a bGaj publication
3 Whitehall Court
LONDON SW1A 2EL
www.bgaj.org.uk
Graphic design
Mark Narusson
marknarusson.com
British Guild of AgriculturalJournalists
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
Welcome 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
4 InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour
bbsrc: bioscience for lifeThe uK is a world-leader in bioscience research, including vital, underpinning agricultural research. BBsrc plays a unique and central role in maintaining this position.
each year, BBSRC invests around £90M in world-
class agricultural research and training, from
crop science (including energy crops) to farmed
animal health and welfare (including aquaculture), as
well as research relating to agricultural systems and the
environment. These investments aim to further scientific
knowledge, promote economic growth, wealth and job
creation, and improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.
Helping to address global challengesDemand 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
multidisciplinary research. BBSRC is applying the latest
bioscience and modelling at a range of scales, up to
agricultural landscapes. We support research to increase
the efficiency and sustainability of crop and animal
production, reduce waste in the food chain, and ensure
safe and nutritious diets. This includes minimising negative
environmental impacts and preserving biodiversity and other
ecosystem services.
To deliver our goals we are boosting national capability in
research underpinning food security and the bioeconomy
through support for major infrastructure and facilities,
and by ensuring that the UK skills base has appropriate
critical mass and specialist research expertise. The BBSRC
strategically-funded institutes (see www.bbsrc.ac.uk/
institutes) are central to providing this national capability.
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
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.
come and visit us on our stand during the main
congress in aberdeen - we look forward to
meeting you. or find out more at
www.bbsrc.ac.uk
InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 5
London in facts and figuresone 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.
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
adjacent City of Westminster.
The City of London is England’s oldest local authority,
having governed for 700 years.
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.
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!
Quirky facT: Only two stations contain all five
vowels… the letters a, e, i, o and u
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.
6 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.
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.
The Shard, a 72-storey skyscraper, is the tallest building
in the European Union. It stands 1,016ft (310m) high.
The M25, the 122-mile orbital motorway surrounding
London, is the world’s longest.
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.
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
million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – but because
Londoners throw away almost a third of the food they buy,
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 7
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…
london or Londinium as it was then known, was
founded by the Romans in AD50 who, after battling
the legendary Queen Boadicea and her army, were
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
invasion in 1066 headed by William the Conqueror saw
London’s prominence continue to grow. Keen to protect the
city he built a stronghold, the Tower of London. Ever since
then, the Royal family has been based in London.
London became the centre of trade and governance in
Tudor times, with its population extending beyond the
old city walls to the nearby towns of Westminster and
Southwark on the south side of the Thames. It was during
this period that shipbuilding on the river became more
prominent and a number of palaces, theatres and deer
parks were established.
The 17th century was an unsettled period for London, with
the Great Plague and Great Fire particularly significant.
The 18th century saw the trading capabilities of London
escalate as huge quantities of goods were brought in to it –
80% of England’s imports - from all over the world. The City
of London’s importance as an important financial centre
also grew.
London expanded greatly in Victorian times as the railways
linked much of Britain to the capital. With this increasing
urbanisation, open space became increasingly important
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.
London continued to grow considerably during the 20th
century, doubling in size between 1919 and 1939. It
sustained widespread damage from aerial bombardment
during the Second World War, with docks and factories
destroyed, and 30,000 people killed.
The city became a cultural icon in the ‘Swinging 60s’ and
recently The Millennium Wheel or ‘London Eye’ and the
Millennium Dome – now the O2 - were built to celebrate the
arrival of the 21st Century. And finally, built in 2012, the Shard,
nearly double the height of the London Eye, offers stunning
360 degree views on a clear day for a distance of 60 km.
Traditional ceremonies and events continue to illustrate
important aspects of London’s rich history and include
the Changing of the Guard, Trooping the Colour, the State
Opening of Parliament and Lord Mayor’s Show. Most
recently London hosted the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Games, making it the first city to host the modern games
three times.
London: a world-class city
8 InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour
the Farmers cluba 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.
The Club was created by agricultural writer, William
Shaw, to provide “a gathering place for farmers
which could also serve as a platform, from which
would go out to England news of all that was good in
farming, with reports of any discussions about those things
that needed to be done.” Through its early days it was little
more than a debating society with men of vision highlighting
the issues of the day. Over the years the Club has
continuously adapted to members’ needs and has survived
the changing fortunes of agriculture through recessions,
two World Wars and ever-increasing mechanisation of
the industry. Membership fluctuated accordingly over the
years but has now reached a peak of 5,500. Club activities
include attendance at major agricultural shows and regional
events as well as a programme of visits and seminars
on the key issues of the day. Contact with members,
the majority of whom are farmers and landowners, is
maintained via an excellent bi-monthly journal along with
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-from-
home’ 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
perhaps unsurprising that members have been delighted
by the chef’s focus on providing simply cooked, seasonal,
quality British food. He uses all British produce and devotes
considerable time and effort to tracing the provenance of
everything he serves. Where possible, produce from Club
members is sourced via the London supply chain and their
details are listed in the menus. The new menus encompass
a spectrum of dishes to appeal to all tastes.
more information on the club and membership
is available at www.thefarmersclub.com and
an exciting new website will be launched in
the autumn to keep you up to date with club
developments.
Meanwhile, enjoy your stay!
stephen skinner
Chief Executive, The Farmers Club
InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 9
Liquid history: The river ThamesThe 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.
It was in AD43 that the Roman Emperor Claudius
finally overcame the native British tribes and occupied
England. Recognising the river’s strategic and economic
importance, the Romans founded a trading post at the
lowest possible point. Its name? Londinium.
For five centuries, Londinium was one of the Roman
Empire’s major commercial centres, largely thanks to the
Thames - and since then, it’s never looked back. Aspects
of Thames activity are recorded in the ancient Domesday
Book, commissioned by William the Conqueror after his
decisive win at the Battle of Hastings; the Tudors and
Stuarts built magnificent palaces alongside the river, such as
those at Richmond, Kew, Hampton Court, Whitehall (where
Parliament stands today) and Greenwich.
With the expansion of world trade in the 16th and 17th
centuries, the City of London grew rapidly and the wharves
throbbed with goods from far-away lands. London Bridge
was for many years the only crossing of the river; that,
coupled with the city’s narrow medieval streets full of
horses, carts and traders, saw the river used as the capital’s
major thoroughfare. It was easier to travel with one of the
‘watermen’ than to attempt to get anywhere overland.
By the 18th century, with London the centre of the vast,
mercantile British Empire - covering nearly a third of the globe
- the Thames was said to be the world’s busiest waterway.
But it also became one of the world’s dirtiest; London’s
population was emptying all its waste into a vast open sewer
formerly known as the Thames. In 1858, sittings in Parliament
had to be abandoned during the ‘Great Stink’; outbreaks of
cholera and typhoid became common. A massive engineering
project began, installing huge sewers beneath the river’s
embankments, and easing the river’s burden.
During the 20th century, much of the river’s trade was lost to
road transport, and the decline of the Empire in the aftermath
of the Great War further reduced its economic importance.
Ever larger ships, and the introduction of the shipping
container, saw ports move further downstream into the
wider estuary. Industry too moved out of the city, and former
warehouses and wharves started to become sought-after flats
and apartments.
Today’s river is a far cry from the bustling sight of boats and
barges that would have greeted the eye in medieval times.
It’s also cleaner than ever; declared biologically ‘dead’ in
1957, it’s now the cleanest river of any major city anywhere
in the world, home to 125 species of fish and over 400
species of invertebrates. Seals, dolphins and porpoises
regularly divert from the North Sea.
Just don’t try swimming in it. Since 2012, it’s been illegal.
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 two-
thirds of London’s drinking
water
Its tidal range is 7 metres
Busiest inland waterway
in the UK
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.
10 InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour
WaitroseBacking innovation and excellence
in agriculture and proudly supportingIFAJ Congress 2014
For further details about Waitrose, contact John Gregson on 01344 824573or on [email protected]
C
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CM
MY
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day 1 growing for the future0645 – 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
sponsored by bspb
Created by the British Society of PlantBreeders (BSPB), Plant Breeding Mattersis a comprehensive online resource withfacts and figures covering the businessand science of plant breeding.
You can reach it from the BSPBhome page at www.bspb.co.ukor call +44 (0)1353 653200 torequest a printed copy.
British Society of Plant [email protected]
The new and definitive guide toPLANT BREEDING
BSPB IFAJ half page advert 0814_Layout 1 05/08/2014 14:15 Page 1
british society of plant breederspenny maplestone, chief executive, BspB
The British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) is the
representative body for the UK plant breeding
industry. Members range from large multinational
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.
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
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
key global challenges of food security, health and nutrition,
climate change and sustainable development. Visit the
website at www.plantbreedingmatters.com
“Plant breeders are at the forefront of global efforts to apply
science and innovation to improve the productivity, climate
resilience and resource-use efficiency of crop production.
We are therefore delighted to support the forthcoming
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.
“Britain’s plant breeding industry is a hi-tech, research-
intensive sector, developing a constant flow of improved
crop varieties as the foundation for successful, productive
agriculture, and the starting point in the UK’s £90bn food
supply chain.
“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.”
“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.”
6
The basic aim of all plant breeding techniques is togenerate new genetic diversity and then select plantswith the desired improved characteristics.
The creation of each new variety is a complex, costlyand skilled operation. It is also time-consuming –early-stage varieties in today’s breeding programmesmust anticipate the needs of farmers, consumers andthe environment in ten years’ time and beyond!
Breeding techniques vary between crop species, butthe scientific principles of plant breeding remain trueto Mendel’s first discovery that selected parent plantscan be cross-pollinated to combine desiredcharacteristics in a single variety.
These characteristics are determined by genes –units of hereditary material that are transferred fromone generation to the next.
Since each plant contains many thousands of genes,and the breeder is seeking to combine a range oftraits in one plant (such as high yield, quality andresistance to disease), developing a successfulvariety has been compared to playing a fruit machine
– not with three reels but several hundred. The skillof the plant breeder lies in improving the chances ofhitting the jackpot by combining all the desiredcharacteristics in the same variety.
”Future food-production increaseswill 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 be fore...”Norman E. Borlaug, 1970
Creating new varieties
The female parent isemasculated so that
it cannot selfpollinate and pollenis transferred from
the male parentwith a paint brushto make the cross
Pollinated plants arebagged to ensurethat the femaleparent receives
pollen only from thechosen male parent
Seed is collectedfrom the pollinatedplants and sown outto produce an F1
population in whichall the plants areuniform; this isoilseed rape
Seed from the F1plants is collected
and sown to producean F2 population inwhich the plants, inthis case wheat, are
genetically verydiverse
1
Plant breeding in practice
Plant Breeding MattersThe business and science of crop improvement
InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 13
the millennium seed BankBy Jamie day
The Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) based at Wakehurst
Place in Ardingly, West Sussex is an ambitious
endeavour seeking to store seed samples of all the
world’s plants for posterity and use. It aims to preserve
the world’s biodiversity through the storage of seeds and
samples of plants that might otherwise become extinct – its
stated objective is to combat potentially catastrophic threats
to human wellbeing by safeguarding wild plant diversity and
enabling its sustainable use through global partnership.
The MSB is managed by the world famous Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew). RBG Kew is split between two
sites, the garden, plant collection and research facility
located to the west of the UK capital city London and the
plant and seed collections and research at Wakehurst Place
in West Sussex. The state-of-the-art Millennium Seed Bank
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.
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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.
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
such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and
the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations’
Environment Programme. Where possible, the MSB ensures
that its samples are duplicates of locally held seed stocks
and that seeds are available to researchers.
As well as preserving plant biodiversity, collections play a
role in the restoration of damaged habitats and ensuring
food security and livelihoods, as well as in educating future
generations and researching and developing plant science
skills. Enabling use can be demonstrated through many of
the MSBP projects for example the “Adapting Agriculture to
Climate Change Project”.
the millennium seed bank tourThroughout 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.
14 InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour
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the Leckford estateBy gill norriss
The Leckford Estate, which includes the Waitrose farm,
a plant nursery, a farm shop and a water garden,
occupies about 1,500 hectares of rolling Hampshire
countryside to the south west of London. It was purchased
by John Spedan Lewis in 1928 as his private estate, was
converted to a limited company in 1929 and is now part of
the John Lewis Partnership of which he was the pioneering
founder. In 1937 Spedan bought the grocery chain Waitrose
and incorporated it into the Partnership, opening the first
Waitrose supermarket in 1955. Today the Partnership has
more than 30 John Lewis department stores, more than 300
Waitrose supermarkets and an annual turnover of over £10
billion. It is owned by its 91,000 staff, known as ‘Partners’
and all profits are returned to them. The Estate also has
leisure facilities including golf courses and fly fishing, for the
enjoyment of Partners and their families.
From 2001 Leckford became an important part of Waitrose,
with a real focus on producing food for the stores under the
Leckford brand. Waitrose believes in “championing British
produce, treading lightly on the environment, supporting
responsible sourcing and treating people fairly”. The farm
embodies the principles of good food, good environmental
practice and fair behaviour in all its transactions, ensuring
responsible and sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry
and holding true to John Spedan Lewis’s original vision of
farming in harmony with the environment.
A wide range of crops is produced to supply Waitrose stores
with outputs such as Leckford-label bread flour, rapeseed
oil, mushrooms, apples, pears, cider, apple juice and honey.
A state of the art dairy unit and a poultry unit provide milk,
free-range chickens and eggs. A recent addition to the fruit
enterprise is the vineyard, whose quality sparkling wine was
sold in Waitrose for the first time this year.
The Waitrose reputation relies on the traceability of the finest
foods, requiring strong relationships throughout the food
chain, built on respect, trust and a mutual commitment to
the highest standards. Long-term relationships with other
suppliers enable the company to help them develop healthy,
sustainable businesses as well as sharing Leckford’s high
standards and best practice with them.
Leckford Estate is all about innovative practices and new
products, a holistic approach, choice and quality, and
respect for the environment. Above all, it’s about delivering
customers the very finest food from known sources. Today
you follow in the footsteps of visitors from all over the world
who have visited Leckford to share in these values and
learn from a modern and professional food business with a
sound footing in its own history and a strong commitment to
forward thinking.
InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 15
the city Liveries: their history and roleBy Trevor clarke
T rade and craft associations have flourished all over
Europe for many centuries, protecting the quality
and reputation of their trade and the behaviour of
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.
The social and economic conditions which gave birth to
the original guilds have long since been overtaken by the
development of industry and commerce, but the livery
companies still flourish today as living institutions, numbering
some 26,000 sworn Liverymen, whose activities have been
commended by successive Royal Commissions.
Liverymen still play an essential role in the governance of
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
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.
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
was enlarged, but the Court decided in 1839 to rebuild it
completely, which, together with its furnishings, cost £10,533
– the equivalent of £605,000 at today’s prices. Not every
Company has a Hall, however – many liveries lost their halls
in the two great disasters to strike London during the last 400
years: the Great Fire of London in 1666 and, more recently,
the Blitz of the Second World War.
Application for membership of livery companies is purely
a domestic matter for each individual company but one
commonality is that any applicant for Livery must be
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
Freeman or Liveryman drunk and incapable, they will bundle
him or her into a taxi and send them home rather than
throw them into a cell. While sheep have occasionally been
driven over London Bridge on special occasions, the rest of
these “privileges” are now effectively symbolic.
One custom which is carried out in Hall during a gathering
of Liverymen is the “Rose Bowl”, a means both of cleansing
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.
Facts and FiGures
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
in total disarray or confusion, has its origins in an
ongoing dispute between the skinners’ and merchant
taylors’ company over which was founded first. they
now take it in turns to swap precedence every year.
the venue for monday night’s dinner is armourers’
Hall, a Guild established in 1322 and receiving its
royal charter in 1453.
16 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
between large retailers and
their suppliers can often be
challenging and the UK’s
approach to the problem
has generated much interest
internationally.
Just over a year ago an Act
of Parliament established the
Groceries Code Adjudicator
(GCA) and I was appointed to the role - the outcome of a
process that evolved from a 2008 Competition Commission
investigation into the groceries sector. The investigation found
that while the sector was broadly competitive, some large
retailers were transferring excessive risk and unexpected
costs to their direct suppliers.
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.
Practices covered by the Code include: paying for goods
on time; compensating suppliers for forecasting errors;
not varying an agreement without reasonable notice; not
requiring suppliers to pay listing fees or marketing costs and
delisting practices. This list is not exhaustive - see details on
the GCA website (www.gov.uk/gca). Price setting or the
relationship between indirect suppliers and the large retailers,
however, are not in my remit.
As the Adjudicator I am responsible for monitoring retailer
practices through evidence gathering, ensuring compliance
with the Code and providing retailers with guidance on good
practice. I have the power to carry out investigations and if I
find serious breaches I can impose financial penalties.
Wherever possible I want to work collaboratively, raising
issues with the retailers’ Code Compliance Officers as
soon as I hear about them, providing the opportunity to put
potential breaches right. I have already published three case
studies where large retailers have accepted the Code has
been breached and action has been taken. This is a swift and
simple way of moving things forward.
I believe I am already seeing progress. At the GCA’s
inaugural conference in June I reported that following my
encouragement eight of the ten retailers had voluntarily
agreed to limit forensic audits to the two previous financial
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
particularly challenging.
That’s why I am delighted I have an opportunity to speak to
agriculture correspondents attending IFAJ 2014. My plea to
you is help me to spread the word back home; I am happy
to give interviews and do video link-ups to reach overseas
suppliers. Together we can work for fairness in the grocery
supply chain.
InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 17
For the latest news, followus on Twitter @EblexTweetsEBLEX is a division of the Agricultural and
Horticultural Development Board (AHDB).
The website for the Englishbeef and sheep meat industryn Market Pricesn Technical Resourcesn Industry Newsn Forthcoming Events
Download the EBLEX app
www.eblex.org.uk
Eblex ad 210x144_Layout 1 06/08/2014 10:10 Page 1
day 2 london food and farming0615 Depart Farmers’ Club
0645 Arrive Smithfield Market
Divide into two groups
Breakfast at ‘The Hope’
Guided tour of the market
1000 Depart for City Farms (Mudchute and Surrey Docks)
1030 Arrive (one group at each site)
1200 Leave for river piers
1230 Embark MV Golden Star
Mudchute group: Masthouse Pier
Surrey Docks: Greenland Pier
River tour with lunch on-board (provided by Waitrose)
1430 Disembark at Putney
Coach to Reed Business Publishing, Sutton for meeting with Farmers Weekly
1515 Arrive Farmers Weekly
1630 Depart Farmers Weekly for BBC Broadcasting House
1730 Arrive Broadcasting House for BBC Rural reception
Presentation and tours
Q&A with Dimitri Houtart, Editor, Rural Affairs & Environment, BBC Radio 4
Graham Harvey, agricultural story editor, The Archers
2030 Depart and free time
‘Supper money’ distributed
sponsored by ebLeX
For the latest news, followus on Twitter @EblexTweetsEBLEX is a division of the Agricultural and
Horticultural Development Board (AHDB).
The website for the Englishbeef and sheep meat industryn Market Pricesn Technical Resourcesn Industry Newsn Forthcoming Events
Download the EBLEX app
www.eblex.org.uk
Eblex ad 210x144_Layout 1 06/08/2014 10:10 Page 1
ebLeX eBleX works for farmers and processors in the english beef and lamb supply chain.
funded by statutory levy paid on every animal at
point of slaughter, it carries out a range of functions
for the industry which otherwise would unlikely
be undertaken by individual farming enterprises, to the
detriment of the efficiency and profitability of the sector.
These include research and development, knowledge
transfer, market intelligence and trade development, both
domestically and in export markets.
It is a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture
Development Board (AHDB) along with BPEX, DairyCo,
HGCA, HDC and the Potato Council, working together
to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the
agriculture and horticulture sectors.
Ultimately, it exists to enhance the profitability and
sustainability of the English beef and lamb sector.
Its aims are:
to help the beef and sheep meat supply chain become
more efficient
to add value to the beef and sheep meat industry.
The communications challenges tackled by EBLEX are
significant. While there are between 50,000 and 60,000
beef and sheep enterprises in England, there is no available
list of them to allow the organisation to engage directly. It
launched the Better Returns Programme – the brand under
which it carries out much of its knowledge transfer work –
as a way of getting farmers to sign up, for free, to receive
technical information and attend events. To date, it has
around 27,000 businesses signed up to the programme.
Aside from that, it uses a variety of channels to
communicate important messages to producers and
processors, giving the industry the tools to become more
efficient, more sustainable and more profitable. These
include trade publications, a website, a blog, social media,
events, newsletters, sponsorship and advertising.
It also plays an active role in publicly defending the industry
on issues such as the environment, health and nutrition and
animal welfare, highlighting the good practice and positive
role that the English beef and lamb sector brings to the
countryside, the economy and the consumer.
InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 19
But through this recent change Smithfield Market has
remained at its original site supplying Londoners with
world-class meat and poultry from across the UK.
The Smoothfield that Smithfield gets its name from was a
flat and green area just to the north east of the main city
that for more than 700 years was the home to cattle fairs
supplying London with its meat. But by the 19th century the
demands of the world’s largest and richest city were taking
their toll on the area - it is estimated that in 1849 a million
animals arrived at Smithfield by rail alone. So it was decided
that a state of the art market specialising in cut meat was
needed. The City of London turned to Sir Horace Jones,
the architect behind Tower Bridge to design its Temple to
Meat. The Catherdral-like structure consisting of two wings
joined by a Grand Avenue was opened in 1868. But the
arrival of imported meat from Australia, New Zealand and
South America meant that even this new building could not
cope with demand and four extensions were built over the
new few years.
Smithfield continued to supply the Capital into the 20th
Century, although it closed during the Second World
War. A fire in 1958 destroyed the Poultry Market building,
but it arose Phoenix-like five years later in a building that
boasted Europe’s largest clear-spanning dome at 225 feet.
Demands of customers and EU-regulations meant that the
market had to be modernised in the 1990s and new chiller
rooms, rails and loading bays were added.
Although the way food is supplied has changed
fundamentally over the last 150 years, Smithfield Market
still trades more than 100,000 tonnes of meat a year with
many restaurants and butchers relying on it to supply the
top quality meat that they require. But the market is not just
limited to those in the trade and is open to anyone who is
prepared to arrive before 7am in the morning.
Recently there have been plans to redevelop the site,
something that has generated opposition from those who
want to keep this mercantile jewel. But with a food market
part of the plans, it is likely that Londoners will be able to
buy a taste of the countryside in the heart of the city for
many years to come.
See www.smithfieldmarket.com for more.
for centuries london was supplied with meat, fresh produce and fish through a number of markets. fruit and vegetable markets covent garden and spitalfields and fish market Billingsgate decamped to more convenient locations away from the city centre with the old sites now smart shopping and residential complexes. In the last few years Borough market has become a week-round farmers’ market where london’s ‘foodies’ stock up on produce they can’t find in their local supermarkets.
centuries of tradition meet at smithfieldBy cedric porter
20 InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour
Farming in the city of londonBy peter Hill, BgaJ member communications
I t’s doubtful whether many tourists to London expect to
find cattle grazing, or hens scratching about in straw.
Yet these unlikely sights are part of the London scenery
thanks to the community farms that bring a flavour of the
countryside and well-documented health and social benefits
to the inner-city population.
Set up and run by locals for the benefit of local people, they
are usually established in response to a lack of access to
green space and a desire to encourage strong community
relationships alongside an awareness of farming and
gardening. Income is generated through donations, grants and,
increasingly, services such as play groups and on-site cafes.
for more than 30 years, city farms have provided enjoyment for over 500,000 londoners each year, providing the only opportunity for inner city children to make the connection between such simple things as milk and the cows that produce it.
There are 16 city farms in London and more than 60 across
the UK. Production efficiency is not the priority, simply
the opportunity for local people to have contact with and
contribute to the care of animals. The emphasis is firmly on
education services and youth activities, riding therapy and a
peaceful escape from city life.
The IFAJ tour visits two farms – Mudchute and Surrey Docks,
both in the east end of London and both founded in the City
Farm movement’s early days. Founded in 1977, and covering
13 hectares, Mudchute Park & Farm (www.mudchute.org) is
one of the largest in Europe. It houses more than 100 animals
and includes areas open to members of the local community.
There is a full education programme for both children and
adults, while hiring out the facilities generates income.
Mudchute is located on the Isle of Dogs, the distinctive spit of
land that forces the River Thames to take a long loop south as
it heads towards Greenwich and to the sea. Take a walk north
from the farm’s tranquil setting and you are soon surrounded
by the soaring office blocks of Canary Wharf, London’s modern
high-rise financial district.
Another farm that nestles in the shadows of Canary Wharf
is Surrey Docks. Occupying a 1ha (2.5 acre) former goods
yard, it’s home to Large White sows running with a docile
Gloucestershire Old Spot boar, two Red Poll cows and
their calves and numerous other farm birds and animals.
Bees produce inner-city honey and an orchard grows fruit.
The farm even has a working blacksmith’s forge and like
Mudchute conducts a full education programme.
Some of the animals have names and petting is encouraged
but there is no shyness about their purpose: meat and other
produce are on sale.
City farms are not unique to London or to Britain; it’s just great
to see that cattle, sheep, pigs and other livestock still have a
place in one of the world’s most recognisable city landscapes.
www.farmgarden.org.uk
www.face-online.org.uk
www.leafuk.org
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InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 21
Farmers WeeklyBy Jane King
farmers Weekly is 80 years old in print this year (launched June 23rd 1934).
The “yellow peril”, as it is
affectionately known by
readers, is a multi media
brand today reaching a
farming audience beyond the
UK through the magazine,
the web and face to face
activity. We reach 93% of all
UK farmers through our products and services and aim to
be a critical friend – informing and challenging the industry
in equal measure.
While we take great pride in our world class farming
capabilities in this country, we are not happy just to stand
still. Farmers Weekly’s role is to offer leadership to farmers
– encouraging them to embrace change to realise their full
potential. Our award-winning editorial team achieve this in a
variety of ways by delivering compelling, practical content that
supports farmers to do the right thing for their own business,
for their livestock, the environment and for the consumer.
our content has to be engaging, authoritative, independent and forward-looking, which is why we are now a major player in social media, online learning and in live events like the farmers apprentice, fertile minds and fW awards.
Innovation has been vital to FW’s success over eight
decades and long may that continue.
22 InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour
the bbcBy adrian Bell
John Reith, a 33-year old Scot, has other ideas.
His vision is an independent British broadcaster,
educating, informing and entertaining the nation.
Free of political interference it will also be unswayed by
commercial pressures. Radically, its funding is a licence fee
of ten shillings (50 pence), ensuring that the organisation
is financially, politically and commercially independent. The
British Broadcasting Company eventually launches on 18th
October 1922.
Within a year, the BBC was broadcasting plays, concerts, talks
and variety programmes. News too, but – characteristically
British – this was broadcast only after 7pm to avoid upsetting
newspaper sales.
Broadcasting House - the UK’s first purpose-built
broadcasting centre - opened on the tenth anniversary of
the BBC (by now the British Broadcasting Corporation). In
November 1936 it became home to the world’s first regular
TV service, broadcast to 20,000 homes within 35 miles of
the studio. But it would be almost 20 years before television
audiences outstripped those of radio, and it was a singular
event: the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. More than 20
million people saw the broadcast; for many, it provided an
irrefutable reason to purchase their first television set.
The 1950s also saw the BBC’s interest in rural affairs
begin – but not with a conventional farming bulletin. The
Second World War had brought Britain food shortages
and rationing; the Ministry of Agriculture needed to raise
productivity to keep the population fed. What better way
than through a radio soap opera, disseminating information
to farmers to help them adopt better farming practices?
Today, ‘The Archers’ is the world’s longest-running radio
soap. Farming matters may be less to the fore than in days
past, but regular listeners will know that every episode’s
credits usually mention the ‘agricultural story editor’.
Naturally, he’s a member of the British Guild.
The Archers isn’t the only BBC programme covering farming
and rural affairs. Farming Today’s daily 15 minutes has over
one million listeners, exploring topical issues often from a
farmer’s point of view, while the longer Farming Today This
Week (FTTW) is broadcast on Saturday mornings.
Television has Countryfile – the UK’s most-watched factual
programme, it has just celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Regularly capturing audiences of seven million, its Sunday
evening slot covers wildlife, conservation, food production,
countryside crafts, social history and leisure activities.
Journalism remains a fundamental strand within the
programme, and a weekly investigation might focus on halal
slaughter, animal diseases or rural concerns such as access
to high-speed broadband.
A popular feature is ‘Adam’s Farm’, fronted by Adam
Henson, whose Cotswold farm post-Congress delegates
will visit. Adam explains the challenges faced by farmers like
himself across the country: weather, prices, disease, but
also the sheer enjoyment that farming brings.
The BBC doesn’t always get it right. In 2014, the BBC
Trust – its governing ‘board’ – conducted a review of
its rural affairs coverage. The report identified, amongst
other findings, that the BBC was giving undue weight to
a small number of organisations in its news coverage;
that stories were ‘too often viewed through the lens of
environmentalism’; that its reporting skewed the argument;
and that there was too often a metropolitan bias in
coverage of rural England.
The report made a number of recommendations, including
the appointment of an overarching BBC Rural Affairs
Correspondent (previously axed); identifying correspondents
from regional and local newsrooms to report for network
news on rural issues; and widening the range of rural
contacts and BBC expertise.
With the BBC never having been well represented within the
British Guild, this offers an opportunity for both organisations.
the bbc and congress 2014 Farming Today This Week visits Thainstone and Mackies
Farm on Friday 5th September.
Five Congress delegates will pre-record short reports – 2-3
minutes - for broadcast the week after Congress. Dimitri
Houtart, its editor, says he wants ‘foreign critical views on
the British food and farming industry, preferably contrasting
it with knowledge of the delegate’s country’.
It’s the 1920s. radio broadcasting has become popular but the contrast between east and west is vivid. america has pursued the route of commercial, unregulated radio stations; the rigidly controlled soviet union has established a tight state system matching its political structure.
InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 23
day 3 science matters0700 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
1 Matt Goode, Associate Director, Communications & External Relations, BBSRC
2 Achim Dobermann, Director, Rothamsted Research
3 Martin Parry, Associate Director, Strategy and Planning, Rothamsted Research
4 Professor John Crawford, Head of Sustainable Systems Research, Rothamsted Research
5 Professor Johnathan Napier, Research Leader, Rothamsted Research
6 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
7 The Right Honourable Elizabeth Truss MP
8 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!
sponsored by certis
24 InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour
Certis Europe - focusing on asustainable foodsupply for agrowing globalpopulation
Certis Europe holds a unique positionin providing integrated crop protectionsolutions for a wide range of crops thathelp growers to meet the demands andpressures of the market.
Find out more www.certiseurope.com
IFAJ half page ad_Layout 1 04/08/2014 16:42 Page 1
certis europemark 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.
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.
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.
one of the oldest continuous representative
assemblies in the world, the modern UK
parliament has its origins in two Anglo-Saxon
bodies – the Witan and the Moot – existent between the 8th
and 11th centuries.
The Witan allowed the King to consult with leading advisers
and noblemen. It existed only when the King chose, and
although its duty was to advise the King, the King could act
without its consent. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, a
smaller, permanent inner council began to advise the King,
with wider consent sought from nobles and churchmen.
The Witan would eventually form the basis for the modern
Upper House, known today as the House of Lords.
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
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
those remain today, the seven hundred intervening years
have seen great changes in their respective share of power.
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
of a republic. Although the monarchy was restored in
1660, the supremacy of Parliament was now established.
By 1707, it had become the Parliament of Great Britain
after the Act of Union between the English and Scottish
Parliaments; in 1801 it saw the merger of the Kingdoms of
Great Britain and Ireland. Since 1927, it has been known as
the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. The most significant changes in recent
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.
Living Heritage: the Houses of parliamentan instantly recognisable building, the site of the Houses of parliament has been a centre of power for more than 900 years, writes Adrian Bell.
26 InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour
Facts and FiGures
Benches in the House of Commons are green; those
in the Lords are red. Thus on the Thames, Lambeth
Bridge (nearest the Lords is red) while Westminster
Bridge (nearest the Commons) is green.
Since the 2010 General Election, UK parliaments are
on a fixed term of five years. The next election is in
May 2015.
No British monarch has entered a sitting House of
Commons since 1642, when King Charles I stormed
the chamber to arrest five members.
There are 650 elected Members in the House of
Commons, each representing an average of 92,000
people, but only 427 seats. Latecomers have to
stand.
The annual tradition of ‘Bonfire Night’, held annually
on Nov 5, commemorates a failed attempt by Guy
Fawkes to blow-up the Houses of Parliament while
the King was opening Parliament in 1605.
It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament…
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.
InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 27
rothamsted researchBy 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.
BBSRC 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.
Rothamsted research station was founded by Sir John
Bennet Lawes (1814-1900), the owner of the Rothamsted
Estate, in 1843. The estate is owned by the Lawes Trust,
and the listed Manor House, where Sir John Lawes lived, is
still on the estate.
Sir John Lawes was an entrepreneur who became one
of the great Victorian scientists. He inherited the estate
at the age of 7, but from the late 1830s, developed an
interest in the effect of inorganic materials on crop growth.
This culminated in 1842 with him opening the UK’s first
factory for the manufacture of artificial fertilisers, based
on phosphorous and sulphate materials, known as the
superphosphates, in south-east London.
The Rothamsted estate gave Sir John Lawes the facility to
test his theories, and his appointment of Sir Joseph Henry
Gilbert, a chemist, as scientific collaborator in 1843 led to
the creation of the Rothamsted Experimental Station. This
was the foundation of modern agricultural research and the
science of crop nutrition.
The long-term classical experiments on wheat fertiliser (the
Broadbalk) and grassland fertilisation for hay (the Park Grass)
have been running since 1843 and 1856 respectively and
continue to this day. Rothamsted has a collection of soil, grain
and straw samples taken from these fields in each of the
subsequent years. These samples are still used by researchers
in looking for information on climactic, meterological, mineral
and pest, weed and disease information from the past.
The vast amount of information collected through
Rothamsted’s classical experiments comparing the use of
inorganic and organic fertilisers on crop yield, also led to the
development of statistical tools to interpret and analyse the
data, many of which have become the standard statistical
methods used in modern science.
Over the years, Rothamsted expanded its work into more
aspects of soils, plant nutrition and crop protection from
weeds, pests and diseases. Notable discoveries have
been the discovery and development of the pyrethroid
class of insecticides, and advances in the fields of virology,
nematology, soil science and pesticide resistance.
Over recent years, the consolidation of the UK’s crop
research resources has seen Rothamsted become the main
UK crop research centre in England. Rothamsted’s state-
of-the-art grassland Farm Platform at North Wyke in Devon
provides scientists with a unique opportunity to address
some of agriculture’s most pressing challenges, for example
mitigating and adapting to climate change, protecting
natural resources and sustaining the rural economy in
grassland dominated regions such as South West England.
Although the centre is largely funded through the BBSRC,
finance is also provided by other government bodies,
the UK’s farmer-funded levy boards (AHDB) and through
industry partners for specific projects. For example, there is
a major project underway with Syngenta to develop higher-
yielding wheat varieties.
Rothamsted’s mission is to deliver the knowledge and new
practices to increase crop productivity and quality and to
develop environmentally sustainable solutions for food and
energy production. It is equipped with the latest laboratory
facilities and technology, and hosts many international
conferences to disseminate its findings and encourage
discussion and debate among the world’s agricultural scientists.
A £13 million expansion programme is underway to
increase the laboratory and conference space available, and
to provide the facilities to encourage companies and new
start-ups to work on the campus. The vision is to create a
plant science hub for the exchange of ideas to help meet
the growing world demand for plant materials for food, fibre
and industrial processes.
28 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
It is a fair comment. Due to its wide-ranging remit, Defra
deals with a large number of emergencies, including
in recent years an outbreak of foot and mouth, the
horsemeat scandal, serious flooding and tree diseases such
as ash die-back (Chalara fraxinea).
And a number of its issues can polarise public opinion – last
year’s badger culling trials in west Gloucestershire and west
Somerset were an attempt to reduce the spread of bovine
tuberculosis (bovine TB) among the nation’s cattle herds.
They were admired and supported by livestock farmers but
heavily criticised by animal welfare and green lobby groups.
But Defra’s role is much wider than dealing with
potentially crippling plant health or animal diseases. It is
the government department responsible for policy and
regulations on environmental, food and rural issues.
Although Defra only works directly in England, it works
closely with the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland
and Northern Ireland. It leads on vital negotiations in the EU,
covering major and contentious issues such as the reforms
of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Common
Fisheries Policy (CFP)
And it also leads on international negotiations, leading for
the UK Government at the Rio+20 sustainable development
talks and at international biodiversity events.
Its new Environment Secretary Liz Truss, brought in
last month following a wider than anticipated Ministerial
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.
She said of the £400m initiative: “This will help drive growth
in Britain’s first class food and drink industry and benefit the
environment through reduced waste....
“This is a huge boost to British farmers and producers and
for our students, patients and employees who want to enjoy
fantastic food.”
As the third Environment Secretary during the current
Coalition administration, she and the Department face tough
challenges in the run-up to the next election. Defra’s annual
budget has been cut by £500m to around £2.5bn since
2010 and further resource savings are on the horizon. As
one of the smaller Whitehall departments, which does not
have huge amount of money ring-fenced, Defra has faced
repeated financial squeezes. One area where it has managed
to hang on to considerable levels of funding has been around
flood protection, with £3.2bn allocated between 2010/11
and 2014/5 to manage flood and coastal erosion.
Following the severe Winter floods which left many parts of
the English countryside and indeed some suburban areas
underwater, Defra has been provided an additional £270m
for urgent repairs and rebuilding work, including maintenance
of ditches through dredging which was one of the most
contentious issues on the ravaged Somerset Levels.
There will be much interest in how the Department and its
Rural Payments Agency continues to develop arrangements
to implement the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP),
which starts in 2015. Heavily criticised for making a
bureaucratic mess of implementing the last CAP, there are
signs that lessons have been learned.
Farmers will have their single farm payments replaced
by a new direct payment made up of a basic payment, a
payment for greening and, if appropriate, a further young
farmers payment. This will be backed up by the new Rural
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
are to be replaced by a new single National Environmental
Land Management Scheme (NELMS).
Facts and stats
The estimated total of UK food and drink wasted in
the food chain is around 15m tonnes/year or around
15 per cent of the overall total.
In 2011, three of the 12 farmland bird species,
analysed as part of the UK Farmland Birds Index
1970-2011) had declined to a tenth of their 1970
figure (grey partridge, turtle dove and corn bunting).
The Government is one of the first in the world to
introduce a network of Marine Conservation Zones
around the English coast. 27 MCZs were designated
in November 2013 in the first tranche. They will
help restore habitats and species through greater
protection
InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 29
a sustainable food chain: innovation and flexibilitypanel discussion, sponsored by certis europe | 16:25 – 18:25 on 3 september 2014 at The farmers club, 3 Whitehall court, london sW1a 2el
food security and nutrition are high on the agenda
for policy makers across the globe. With drivers
such as population growth and climate change to
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
and sustainable diet for the population of our cities? What
innovations can we expect?
Chairman for the Panel discussion: Malcolm Crabtree,
independent farming professional
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 ChampionTHE CHALLENGE: Why is food security important globally,
what are the challenges we have to overcome/ what is
sustainable intensification? What factors does this involve
– agricultural production, environment, biodiversity, water,
energy, land for recreation, carbon footprint, all are involved.
talk 2
speaker: Jonathan Pauling, Principal Policy Officer, Greater London Authority, supporting the implementation of the London Food StrategyTHE CHALLENGE: at a local level (London): How will
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.
talk 3
speaker: Adam Staines, Joint Head, Agriculture, Food and Land Use Sector, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)The challenge of producing more from less: what basic
research is being funded by BBSRC and the other
Government Research Councils to ensure food security
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
funding and what innovations can be expected in the short
and medium terms to ensure global food security.
talk 5
speaker: Duncan Sinclair, Agriculture manager, WaitroseThe challenge faced by a multiple retailer procuring a
sustainable supply of food during the next decade and
beyond. What plans and strategies have you in place?
talk 6
speaker: Caroline Drummond, Chief Executive Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF)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’.
30 InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour
the journalists’ church st Bride’s church, fleet street
The Church of St Bride is justly world famous. To
enter its doors is to step into 2,000 years of history,
which had begun with the Romans some six
centuries before the name of St Bride, daughter of an Irish
prince, even emerged from legend to become associated
forever with the site.
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.
By 1989, all the national newspapers had decamped to
more remote publishing centres; many people at that
time feared that the diaspora of the Fourth Estate might
result in St Bride’s losing its title of the Cathedral of Fleet
Street. Some even considered that the great church
would lose its parishioners. Fortunately for St Bride’s, the
national newspapers scattered in every direction rather than
congregating in one locality, so that “Fleet Street” remains
to this day a generic term for the nation’s press. Moreover,
the church retains its position as the spiritual home of the
media, who are fully committed to its future.
During the Middle East hostage crisis of the late 1980s and
early 1990s, it hosted all-night vigils for John McCarthy
and others, and on their release in 1991 a grand service
of celebration was held. There have also been services of
commemoration for numerous journalists who have given
their lives reporting from war zones and troubled areas
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
celebrated the lives of figures such as Clement Freud, Harry
Carpenter, Alan Coren, Marie Colvin and Derek Jameson,
and seasonal carol services for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Fleet
Street. It will be no surprise to those who remember Don
Gomery that St Bride’s hosted his memorial service, too.
Our links with the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists
go back to the 1970s and our annual Harvest Service, held
in October, has grown into a showcase for the beauty of
the space, the wonder of the choir and the warmth of the
fellowship.
www.stbrides.com
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.
InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour 31
the caledonian sleeperpay 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.
If 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,
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
from the 1960s and 1970s, the train – which has been in
operation for 141 years – was running at a loss and catering
for passengers who either adored its quirky style, or simply
adopted the maxim of ‘grin and bear it’.
But it’s come back from the brink. In May this year, when a
new operating franchise was awarded to Serco – a company
already operating luxury sleeper trains across Australia –
the Scottish transport secretary was sufficiently moved to
declare the new service would ‘transform this iconic rail
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’
and a brasserie-style club car. Part-funded with £60m from
the Scottish Government, the new rolling stock will be
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
night will be some of the oldest British railway stock still in
regular fare-paying use. But that’s not to say it won’t be
comfortable, nor memorable, for despite its shortcomings the
sleeper retains a cult following and is held in great affection by
a true cross-section of society. Oil workers, peers, academics,
walkers, landowners and politicians all regularly use the service.
So board with an open mind and an open heart, for there
are no strangers aboard this train; its camaraderie is famous.
Enjoy a drink in the bar and get your appetite prepared for
Scottish food; whisky and haggis sell in abundance.
Journalists love it too, for it’s said that staying a while in the
lounge car and keeping an open ear can reveal more about
what’s going on in the corridors of power than an entire
week spent in the Lobby Bar at the Houses of Parliament…
caledonian cribsheet 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
the only British railway carriages with freestanding seats
and sofas.
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
car to enjoy the morning scenery – and the crossing of
the famous Forth Bridge, a famous symbol of Scotland
and despite its 124-years, still the world’s second-longest
single cantilever bridge span. ‘Painting the Forth Bridge’
is a well-known British colloquial expression for a never-
ending task.
IMA
GE
.N M
CN
AB
32 InnovaTIons from a small Island: pre-congress Tour
Massey Ferguson extends a warm welcome to members
of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists
here in London and looks forward to hosting you during the
‘Innovations From A Small Island’ Congress.
“The UK was the home of Harry Ferguson, one of the founding
fathers of Massey Ferguson, who created one of the most
important innovations in farm machinery - the very first three-
point linkage system, which is used on every tractor today,”
says Campbell Scott, Director, Sales Engineering and MF
Brand Development.
Ever since this was introduced on the Ferguson-Brown in 1936,
Massey Ferguson has remained at the forefront of agricultural
machinery innovations. More than 75 years ago Massey Harris
introduced the first self-propelled combine harvester and in the
1990s, pioneered yield mapping on combines - paving the way
for today’s precision farming developments.
“We are a leader in the design and manufacture of tractor
transmissions and, more recently, the first to introduce
Selective Catalytic Reduction technology on engines in
agriculture. We have just launched a completely new Global
Tractor, which is another original innovation – applying 21st
Century design, technology and engineering specifically for the
sub-100hp sector,” he adds.
Much of this technology is developed thanks to Massey
Ferguson’s longstanding and close relationship with customers.
User opinions help drive innovation and ensure the machines
precisely match their individual needs and expectations.
Massey Ferguson has long played a key role in British farming
and has supported the Red Tractor food assurance scheme since
its inception, more than 12 years ago. Most of the major brands
and supermarkets are now involved. Today more than £12 billion
worth of food and drink carries the ‘little red tractor’ logo.
Massey Ferguson provides tractors for Red Tractor to use at
events across the country to attract consumers’ attention and
help explain the huge efforts farmers put into producing food,
to not only the highest standards of quality and sustainability,
but also with the upmost attention to animal welfare and
environmental care.
“Latest developments, such as mapping, job recording and
data logging also help farms to keep the records needed for
the traceability required for Red Tractor and farm assurance
schemes. Labels not only show that food was produced in the
UK, but often state the actual farm as well,” adds Mr Scott.
“Now wireless transfer and telemetry make it much easier for
farms to gather, store and process records, not only improving
accuracy, but reducing the workload.”
massey Ferguson
Contact your local dealer today or contact us on 01628 488 441 or [email protected] masseyfergusonglobal @mf_eame MasseyFergusonVideo blog.agcocorp.comBmasseyfergusonglobal @mf_eame MasseyFergusonVideo blog.agcocorp.com
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Half-page A4 for Congress 2014.indd 1 13/08/2014 17:01
If 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 horse-
drawn carriages were first licensed as vehicles for hire.
Long before the era of satellite navigation, the London
‘cabbie’ always knew the best way around the streets of
the capital. That’s because before they can acquire their
licence, they must pass a test called ‘The Knowledge’.
This demonstrates an intimate understanding of London’s
geography; a driver must be able to respond to a
passenger’s route request immediately, without looking at a
map, relying on sat-nav, or asking a controller by radio.
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
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
you a special offer from Hailo – a free smartphone app which
puts you just two taps away from a licensed London taxi.
Hailo has offered pre-congress delegates a £15
‘e-voucher’ to use with the app. to take advantage of
it, all you have to do is download Hailo from your app
store, and then use the code ‘iFaj14’ before
5 september. there are only 50 codes available,
so be quick!
HaiLo: a special offer for pre-congress delegates
Last Name First Name Title Company Country Email
Anderson Keith Anderson & Associates United States [email protected]
Andreasen Gudrun Freelance journalist Fagbladsgruppen Denmark [email protected]
Baylor Anderson Barb Anderson & Associates United States [email protected]
Behringer Sally MustangRED Communications United States [email protected]
*Bell Adrian Director Whisper.pr United Kingdom [email protected]
Bowman Rachel Director Seedbed Media Australia [email protected]
Bratberg Even dr./Freelance Norwegian University of Life Sciences Norway [email protected]
Cadogan Stephen Farming Editor Irish Examiner Ireland [email protected]
Daynard Kelly Communications Manager Farm & Food Care Canada [email protected]
Finnamore Allison Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation Canada [email protected]
Frans Ida Assistant Micas & Editions Belgium [email protected]
Gaeta Gabriel Farm Journal Media United States [email protected]
Gattermayer Fritz Member of Board AGRANA Beteiligungs AG Austria [email protected]
Gordea Liviu Ferma Romania [email protected]
Hansen Per Henrik Freelance journalist Danish Food and Agricultural Journalists Denmark [email protected]
Hillyer Gregg Editor In Chief DTN/The Progressive Farmer United States [email protected]
Hillyer Julia DTN/The Progressive Farmer United States [email protected]
Hinze Guenther VDAJ Germany [email protected]
Horstmeier Greg Editor-in-chief DTN/The Progressive Farmer United States [email protected]
Hough Cassandra Rural Reporter Australian Broadcast Corporation Australia [email protected]
Ishii Hayato Senior Writer Kyodo News Japan [email protected]
Johansson Lena Editor Federation of Swedish Farmers Sweden [email protected]
Jonkheer Egbert Freelance agricultural journalist SE The Netherlands [email protected]
Knapp Katherine Goldsmiths, University of London United States [email protected]
Lamp Greg Editor CHS Inc. United States [email protected]
Leigh Tamara Shiny Bird Communications Canada [email protected]
Lewis Pete Rural & Regional Reporter ABC TV News & Current Affairs Australia [email protected]
Martin Carolyn Communications Manager Communications & Marketing Australia Australia [email protected]
Merlo Catherine Western & Online Editor Farm Journal Media/Dairy Today United States [email protected]
Moore Suzi Communications Manager CANEGROWERS Australia [email protected]
Mueller Hans Freelance Freelance Switzerland [email protected]
Nieder Christel Büro für Information und Kommunikation Germany [email protected]
Nieder Helmut Büro für Information und Kommunikation Germany [email protected]
Persinger Harlen Freelancer hlensphotos United States [email protected]
Rediger Markus Managing Editor IFAJ /LID Switzerland [email protected]
Rediger Marianne LID Switzerland [email protected]
Schaer Lilian Freelance journalist Agri-Food Project Services Ltd Canada [email protected]
Schmid Colette Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG Switzerland [email protected]
Schmidt Gerhard International Consulting Freelancer Germany [email protected]
Schmidt Heidi Freelancer Freelancer Germany [email protected]
Schulz-Willecke Renate VDAJ Germany [email protected]
Schwerdtfeger Rolf act Gmbh/VDAJ Germany [email protected]
Scott Jessica Innovations Editor Successful Farming United States [email protected]
Shearon Dolores DTN United States [email protected]
Stringleman Hugh NZ Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators New Zealand [email protected]
Townsend Samantha Journalist NSW Farm Writers Association Australia [email protected]
Van Outryve Jacques Boer&Tuinder Belgium [email protected]
*Venters Howard Publisher Shepherd Publishing Limited United Kingdom [email protected]
Verhaeren Jozef Journalist MICAS & Editions Belgium [email protected]
Wallace Carolyn Partner John Wallace Communications United States [email protected]
Wallace John Partner John Wallace Communications United States [email protected]
Werblow Steve Freelance Journalist Steve Werblow Communications United States [email protected]
delegate list and contact details
*Pre-Congress committee members
Science to Secure the Future of UK AgricultureEach 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:
- Supporting major strategic, long-term research programmes in top UK institutions
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.
- Maintaining and developing unique national facilities and resources
- Strengthening the UK’s internationally-respected skills base
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.
- Working with partners to accelerate the translation of research into practice
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.
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.
For more information visit: www.bbsrc.ac.uk or email: [email protected]
Follow us on Twitter @BBSRC
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