Register today: NFU Cymru Conference 2024

04 November 2024

Aled Jones speaking at last year's conference

Once again, an impressive line-up of industry leaders will bring political, supply chain, consumer and agricultural insights to the annual NFU Cymru Conference.

This year’s event, titled ‘Securing the Future of Welsh Food’ will be held at the Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells from 10am on Thursday 7th November and will focus on the need to secure sustainable food systems.

Quick links

- Agenda
- Speaker biographies
- A message from the Director
- Registration

Agenda

 

10:00 – 10:05

Opening video

10:05 – 10:20

Opening address

Aled Jones, President, NFU Cymru

To include the NFU Cymru/Wynnstay Sustainable Agriculture Award presentation

10:20 – 11:10

Keynote political address

  • Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Welsh Government

Address followed by Q+A

Chaired by Aled Jones, President, NFU Cymru

11:10 -12:00

Securing sustainable and resilient food systems

  • Professor Tim Lang, Emeritus Professor of Food Policy, Centre for Food Policy, City University of London

Chaired by Rachel Lewis-Davies, National Environment and Land Use Adviser, NFU Cymru

12:00 – 13:00

The food session: Opportunities for Welsh producers

  • Katie Palmer, Programme Manager, Food Sense Wales
  • Professor Susan Jebb, Chair, Food Standards Agency (FSA)
  • Shelagh Hancock, Chief Executive Officer, First Milk

Chaired by Dylan Morgan, Deputy Director and Head of Policy, NFU Cymru

13:00 -14:00

Lunch

14:00 – 14:50

The Political landscape: Implications for food and farming

  • Dr Matthew Wall, Associate Professor, Politics, Philosophy and International Relations, Swansea University

Chaired by Huw Thomas, Political Adviser, NFU Cymru

14:50 – 15:45

Securing and developing markets: The Irish experience 

  • John Murray, Director of Meat, Food & Beverages (sectors), Bord Bia - The Irish Food Board

Chaired by John Mercer, Director, NFU Cymru

15:45 – 16:00

Close of conference

  • Abi Reader, Deputy President, NFU Cymru

Speaker profiles

Aled Jones

NFU Cymru President

Aled is an eighth-generation farmer who runs a pedigree herd of Holsteins with his with his son, Osian, in Caernarfon. Aled is married to Eilir and together they have four children, Osian, Prysor, Erwaun and Gruffudd and 7 grandchildren. 

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.

Huw Irranca-Davies MS

Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Welsh Government

Huw Irranca-Davies was born and raised in Gowerton which at the time was a mixture of steel and heavy industry and agriculture, bridging the countryside and the urban and industrial, and this has shaped his life-long approach to politics and policy.

Huw worked for many years in public and private sector leisure management and as a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education before entering politics.

In February 2002 he was elected as the Labour MP for Ogmore. He was duly elected to the Assembly (now Senedd Cymru) in 2016 representing Ogmore.

Huw was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs in March 2024 and was later appointed Deputy First Minister in September, in addition to retaining responsibility for Climate Change and Rural Affairs matters.

Professor Tim Lang

Emeritus Professor of Food Policy, Centre for Food Policy, City University of London

Tim Lang is Professor Emeritus of Food Policy at City, University of London’s Centre for Food Policy. Hill farming in Lancashire in the 1970s formed his interest in policy tensions over food, health, environment, politics and culture which he’s worked on ever since.

He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health. His latest book is Feeding Britain (Pelican pb 2021). He’s spent the last two years researching the state of UK civil food resilience for the National Preparedness Commission.

Katie Palmer

Programme Manager, Food Sense Wales

Katie Palmer heads up Food Sense Wales, a charitable organisation that she founded in 2018 to drive forward a cross-sector approach to the food system in Wales. Food Sense Wales works with stakeholders across Wales to create a food and farming system that’s good for people and the planet.

Katie is one of the founding Directors of Veg Power and helped co-found the School Holiday Enrichment Programme, Food and Fun. She’s also a member of the Conscious Food Systems Alliance. Katie has a Masters in Nutrition and a Masters in Food Policy and has worked in both the private and public sectors. 

Professor Susan Jebb

Chair, Food Standards Agency (FSA)

Professor Susan Jebb is Chair of the Food Standards Agency. She is one of the UK’s leading scientists, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Her recent research has focused on the treatment of obesity and interventions to encourage healthy and sustainable diets.

Susan has a long-standing interest in the translation of scientific evidence into policy. She was the Science Advisor to the Government Office for Science Foresight report on obesity in 2007 and an advisor to Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy (2020-2021).

She has previously chaired the cross-government expert advisory group on obesity (2007–2011), the Department of Health responsibility deal food network (2011–2015) and public health advisory committees for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2013-2018). She was awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to public health.

Shelagh Hancock

Chief Executive Officer, First Milk

Shelagh Hancock was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of First Milk in 2017. Shelagh has over 30 years’ experience in the food and agricultural supply sectors.

Prior to her current role, Shelagh held several senior executive positions across the UK dairy industry, including at the farmer-owned co-operative Milk Link (which merged with Arla in 2012) and a family-owned business, Medina Dairy. She originally trained as an animal nutritionist and worked for more than 10 years in the agricultural supply sector.

Dr Matthew Wall

Associate Professor, Politics, Philosophy and International Relations, Swansea University

Dr Matt Wall is an Associate Professor in Politics at Swansea University, where he serves as the Head of the Department of Politics, Philosophy, and International Relations. Dr Wall is also a Co-Director of the Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD).

Following a PhD in Political Science at Trinity College Dublin in 2011, Dr Wall held postdoctoral research posts as a Marie Curie Fellow at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Wall’s research focuses on the intersection of electoral politics and digital technologies, and he has published over 25 original research articles in globally respected peer-reviewed venues.

John Murray

Director of Food, Beverage & Horticulture Sectors, Bord Bia - The Irish Food Board

John Murray is the Director of Food, Beverage & Horticulture Sectors with Bord Bia – the Irish Food Board. Bord Bia is the Irish state agency with responsibility for the promotion and marketing of Irish food and drink globally. Within his role he has responsibility for client engagement and driving sector strategic plans, which includes optimising growth supports and services.

John joined from Kerry Group (an Irish multinational dairy, ingredients and taste business) where he held senior roles in commercial and strategy development across their European business. Prior to this, John worked in specialist dairy sales, retail meat procurement, and agri-food public communications. He is an Agricultural Science graduate, and hails from southeast of Ireland (Waterford).

Abi Reader

NFU Cymru Deputy President

Abi is a third generation mixed farmer, farming in partnership with her parents and uncle in Wenvoe, just outside Cardiff. 

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 receive great feedback for the calibre of speakers we are able to attract to NFU Cymru Conference, our 2024 line-up promises to be one of our best events to date, given the speakers who have agreed to join us this year.

“We are especially pleased to be receiving a keynote address by our Cabinet Secretary, Huw Irranca-Davies MS. At such a crucial time for Welsh farming we look forward to hearing about the progress made on the Sustainable Farming Scheme proposals and Welsh Government’s work on key policy areas including bovine TB and water quality regulations. At a time when farming is being asked to deliver so much in terms of food security, nature and climate, we need Welsh Government to put policies and adequate budget in place that will allow us to continue to deliver on these objectives.

“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]


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