Cereals returns to Robert Law’s Chrishall Grange, near Duxford, Cambridgeshire, on Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 June. Over 500 exhibitors are expected to provide the latest technical, business and machinery advice across the 64ha site, making Cereals the leading technical event for the UK arable sector.

Several new initiatives debut at the event, says Jon Day of organiser Haymarket Exhibitions.

“Cereals continues to develop its core offerings to ensure growers find all the technical expertise and advice necessary to keep their businesses profitable, tackling issues as diverse as blackgrass control, CAP reform and establishment costs.

“We are striving to improve our offering all the time. Some exciting new ideas that we’ve been working on for several months will emerge at Cereals 2014, which promises to be the most informative Cereals event yet.”

For the first time Cereals will host a CPD points trail, offering up to 12 BASIS points, all of which can be collected on a single day, underlining the importance that the industry now puts on the event. At least eight NRoSO points will also be on offer.

Young people are also firmly in the Cereals spotlight. McDonald’s, Massey Ferguson and De Lacy Executive will sponsor a new pavilion in the educational area of this year’s event. The aim is to inspire young people – future farmers and industry employees – and highlight the vast and varied opportunities within the agricultural industry.

Cereals is also hosting the new International Machinery Manufacturers’ Awards. These machinery Oscars are open to kit launched in the past 18 months by any company, not just exhibitors, selling farm machinery in the UK.

The IMMAs are supported by the AEA, The Institution of Agricultural Engineers, The Royal Agricultural University and Farmers Weekly. Nominations are open until April 25 and can come directly from companies themselves, or from farmer recommendation. Entry forms can be found at www.cerealsevent.co.uk/immas

UK Trade and Investment is supporting the overseas lounge for the first time, using its expertise to help overseas and UK visitors seek out opportunities for export.

More familiar Cereals features return, including hundreds of crops plots to illustrate the wealth of agronomic developments on show. Other specialist areas include machinery, working demonstrations, post-harvest technology, business area, potatoes, renewables, careers and education and the Syngenta Sprays and Sprayers arena, which showcases the latest spraying technology and equipment.

The Arable Conference, in conjunction with the Oxford Farming Conference, has a stellar line up of speakers ready to tackle such diverse topics as CAP greening, water availability, soil health and whether paying for agronomy advice provides an advantage.

In addition, the popular technical seminars introduced in 2013 return this year to highlight some of the sector’s key challenges and discuss how they can be managed.

There will be more to get to grips with at Cereals this year than ever, says Allan Wilkinson, head of agriculture at HSBC, cereals principal sponsor.

“We will have the final decision on CAP reform, so the event will provide a real opportunity for visitors to understand what this means for their businesses.

“Arable margins have become tighter as grain prices have slipped and costs have continued to edge up, so there is a need to optimise marketing opportunities and make more of cutting edge technology to maximise margins.

“The scenario in the Ukraine shows the importance of understanding the effects of geopolitics on world markets. Cereals will provide the answers to all these questions and more, as well as being a great opportunity to catch up with business colleagues and friends.”

Haymarket has put extra emphasis on getting visitors on to and off the site this year with the minimum of hassle. Predicted traffic flows have been analysed and visitors will be directed to one of three car parks available at the event, depending on the direction they are travelling from, to minimise queuing.

To help speed access further, visitors can buy tickets online so they don’t have to queue at entrances. Ticket cost £23 each (£19 for students), with discounts available for larger groups.