This year’s event, titled ‘Welsh farming – Producing for the future’ will be held at the Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells from 10am. Previous NFU Cymru conferences have attracted a star-studded line-up and the 2023 conference is no different.
Quick links
- Agenda
- Speaker biographies
- A message from the Director
- Registration
Register today: NFU Cymru Annual Conference 2023
Agenda
10:00 – 10:15 |
Opening address: Aled Jones, President, NFU Cymru To include the NFU Cymru/Wynnstay Sustainable Agriculture Award presentation |
10:15 – 10:45 |
Political address: Lesley Griffiths MS, Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd, Welsh Government Chaired by Aled Jones, President, NFU Cymru |
10:45 -11:45 |
Welsh farming – the path to net zero: Dr Niki Rust, Head of Land, Agriculture and Nature, The UK Climate Change Committee Dr Michelle Cain, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Environmental Data Analytics, Cranfield University Chaired by Abi Reader, Deputy President, NFU Cymru |
11:45 – 12:30 |
Where next for Wales? The political landscape: Will Hayward, Welsh Affairs Editor, WalesOnline Chaired by Huw Thomas, Political Adviser, NFU Cymru |
1230 – 13:15 |
Wales’ future in the global market: Sam Lowe, Partner, Flint Global Chaired by Tori Morgan, National Policy Adviser, NFU Cymru |
13:15 – 14:00 |
Lunch |
14:00 – 15:00 |
Tracking international changes in consumer behaviour: Prof. David Hughes, Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing, Imperial College London Chaired by Dylan Morgan, Deputy Director and Head of Policy, NFU Cymru |
15:00 – 15:50 |
An audience with the NFU President: Minette Batters, President, NFU Chaired by John Mercer, Director, NFU Cymru |
15:50 – 16:00 |
Summary and close: Abi Reader, Deputy President, NFU Cymru |
Speaker profiles
Aled Jones
NFU Cymru President
Aled has previously held a variety of positions across the industry, including holding the post of Chairman of milk recording company Cattle Information Services (CIS) for seven years and being a trustee of Holstein UK for eight years.
Lesley Griffiths MS
Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd, Welsh Government
She has held a number of Ministerial posts in Welsh Government since December 2009 as Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills, Health and Social Services, Local Government and Government Business, Communities and Tackling Poverty and across a range of Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs portfolios. Following the Senedd election in May 2021, Lesley was appointed Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd. Outside of politics, her main hobbies are music, walking and watching Wrexham Football Club.
Dr Niki Rust
Head of Land, Agriculture and Nature, The UK Climate Change Committee
Niki is an environmental sustainability leader, having worked on the interface between nature, agriculture and climate for the last 15 years, both domestically and internationally. Prior to coming to the CCC, she worked on food and agricultural policy and analyses at Defra and the Food Standards Agency. She has also researched and taught at Newcastle University on sustainable European food and agricultural topics and has worked at environmental NGOs on land use issues. Her PhD was on how livestock farming and nature conservation could support each other.
Dr Michelle Cain
UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Environmental Data Analytics, Cranfield University
For example, how much of a role methane and nitrous oxide can play in climate mitigation in agriculture. She is involved in projects to develop modelling tools to evaluate the impact of mitigation strategies on global warming. She co-led the UN FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) Technical Advisory Group on Methane which produced the report ‘Methane emissions in livestock and rice systems. Sources, quantification, mitigation, and metrics’, published in September 2023.
Will Hayward
Welsh Affairs Editor, WalesOnline
Other accolades include winning Data Journalist of the Year and Scoop of the Year at the Regional Press Awards 2020 for his work uncovering how government failings allowed Covid into care homes, as well as being two-time Welsh Journalist of the Year at the Wales Media Awards. He is the author of Lockdown Wales: How Covid-19 Tested Wales.
Sam Lowe
Partner, Flint Global
Prior to joining Flint, Sam was a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. He has also held positions as a member of the UK government’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group (2019-2020), a senior advisor to the Blakeney Group, and the Brexit and trade lead for a prominent environmental charity.
Sam is a visiting senior research fellow at The Policy Institute, Kings College London and a co-founder of the UK Trade Forum. Sam is also an influential public commentator on trade and Brexit matters.
Prof. David Hughes
Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing, Imperial College London
David has lived and worked in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Africa and South East Asia. He was co-owner of a horticultural business in Florida and has extensive experience as an international advisory board member with agri-food companies. David was born and has returned home to live in Wales.
Minette Batters
Former NFU President
Diversification includes the conversion of a 17th century tithe barn into a wedding and corporate events venue, and horse liveries. Minette co-founded the campaigning initiatives 'Ladies in Beef' and the 'Great British Beef Week'.
Campaigning on behalf of NFU members about the importance of British food and farming has been a key driver for Minette throughout her time at the NFU. In 2020 she led one of the most successful petitions ever, bringing together a coalition of chefs, including Jamie Oliver, farmers, environmentalists, consumer groups and animal welfare experts – resulting in over one million people signing the NFU food standards petition. She has also regularly engaged with different media genres including appearances on Desert Island Discs, Question Time, and Any Questions.
She has been an NFU member from grassroots through to County Chair; she served as Wiltshire’s Council delegate and also as Regional Board Chair for the South West. Minette has also been a member of NFU Governance Board and served as NFU Deputy President for four years from 2014 to 2018, before being elected as president in February 2018. Minette is also an ambassador of Farm Africa and was made a Deputy Lieutenant to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in 2021.
Officeholder responsibilities
- Trade and standards
- EU and international relations
- Taxation and fiscal policy
- Science and research and development
- Food supply chain (fair dealing, Markets and Authorities, competition, regulation)
- Food service
- AHDB
- Levelling up
- Education
Abi Reader
NFU Cymru Deputy President
The farm is home to milking cows, sheep, beef cattle and around 120 acres of arable. Abi is a co-founder of Cows on Tour, an Open Farm Sunday host and a former NFU Cymru Wales Woman Farmer of the Year. In 2019 she was honoured by the Queen with an MBE for her services to agriculture.
A message from the Director
NFU Cymru Director John Mercer said: “Each year we manage to attract the very best speakers to NFU Cymru Conference and our 2023 line-up promises to be one of our best events to date given the high calibre of speakers who have agreed to join us this year.
“The Agriculture (Wales) Act has paved the foundations to develop new devolved policy here in Wales and the Sustainable Farming Scheme will shape Welsh farming for many years to come. Given the anticipated changes to the policy landscape, Wales’ place in the global marketplace and the industry’s ongoing climate change challenges, I believe our expert line-up of guests will help inspire and inform those who attend.
“NFU Cymru Conference is a popular event among the membership and so I encourage interested members to confirm their attendance as soon as possible.”
Register today
Members wishing to attend the conference can register on the link below. Alternatively, call the NFU Cymru office on 01982 554200 or email [email protected]
Register today: NFU Cymru Annual Conference 2023