Agronomy and business management conference for arable growers

To be held on Tuesday 31 January 2023 at CAFRE Greenmount College, registration opens at 9am.

Conference speakers:

Olly Harrison

Olly Harrison farms 1,200 acres at Water Lane Farm in Prescot, Merseyside, but he is probably best known as the “Accidental YouTuber” where he now has 1.6m views a month across 40 countries following him and his business. What started as a joke during lockdown has turned into a diversification that funds his (self-professed) machinery and tractor addition. Along with the farm, Olly is chair of the North West Cereals and Oilseeds NFU Crops Board and he has raised a significant amount of money for charities by organising Christmas tractor runs through Liverpool.

David Eudall

David is the son of an agronomist who first joined HGCA in 2008 as a market analyst and was part of the move to Stoneleigh in 2009 when AHDB was first formed. David left AHDB in 2012 and worked as a grain trader in the UK and Australia. In 2017, on moving back to the UK, David re-joined AHDB to lead their arable market specialist team before becoming director of economics and analysis in 2021.

Lorcan Bourke

Lorcan Bourke works as sector manager for fresh produce and potatoes in Bord Bia based in Dublin. As part of this role, he leads on the implementation of two distinct European Union funded promotional campaigns “Potatoes: Prepare to be Surprised” and “Life is Better with Fruit and Vegetables”, both run in partnership with French and Belgian promotional organisations. Bord Bia development work involves liaison with potato, fruit and vegetables growers and packers throughout Ireland and abroad. In co-operation with the Irish Potato Federation, Bord Bia were closely involved in the organisation of the World Potato congress in the RDS in Dublin in May 2022, while Bloom in the Phoenix Park represents an annual opportunity to promote fresh produce to the Irish public. Lorcan holds a MBS and B. Agr. Sc. both from University College Dublin, and lives on his family’s farm near Greystones, Co. Wicklow.

Session 2

Liam Wolfe

Liam studied dairy science at UCC, followed by a MSc in executive leadership from Ulster University and a Chartered Director (C.Dir) from the Institute of Directors, London. Liam started his career off in Aurivo Co-op from 1982 to 1986, then progressed to be executive director for the Golden Vale Group from 1986 to 2001. After this he was general manager within the dairies division for Kerry Group from 2001 to 2003. In 2002, Liam founded Freshgrass Group and is currently the managing director for this group as well as Grassland Argo. Liam is a director of 15 companies including amongst others Teagasc and Agricultural Trust (Irish Farmers Journal). He also gives time to “business coach” at least three other businesses in which he is neither an investor nor a director. Liam has also initiated and led two major fundraisers for St James’s Hospital, Cystic Fibrosis and Autism that have raised over €300k.

Phil Burrell

An agronomist with 25 plus years experience of arable farming. Started working on a farm as a sprayer operator before progressing up to a farm management role in which he passed his BASIS and FACTS exams. Phil eventually left farm management to pursue a career in the agrochemical sector working for both Syngenta and Makhteshim Agan (now Adama) in commercial and technical roles. He joined Yara five years ago as an area manager before going on to a global YaraVita role, in which he is now responsible for the YaraVita range of foliar fertilisers in the UK and Ireland.

Session 3

Roger Stones

Roger Stones is a senior energy consultant at NFU Energy. He started working in the energy industry in 1994 and has not found a way to escape yet. Roger is an electrician with a master’s degree in agriculture. He was an agricultural energy advisor for 27 years in the main electric utility in South Africa before moving to the UK in 2021.

At NFU Energy, Roger spends most of his time helping farmers to identify energy-saving opportunities and developing renewable energy feasibilities.

Gary Spence

Gary grew up on a dairy farm in Kilkeel Co. Down, which transitioned to beef and crops where he continues to farm in partnership with his father. He studied agriculture technology at Queen’s University Belfast and CAFRE Greenmount. He is currently completing a Nuffield Scholarship and has been involved with the Fields of Life charity in Uganda. Gary is currently technical services coordinator with the agronomy and forage team at Fane Valley, with responsibility across a number of areas including nutrient management planning, soil improvement, and adoption of research and development across the business with practical rollout to farm.

To register for the event, visit the following link www.ufuni.org/events or contact UFU HQ 028 9037 0222.