Experts are predicting that we will need between 70 and 100% more food by the year 2050, when the population is expected to have reached around 9 billion.

Climate change and its impact on agriculture, soil and water resources will certainly complicate the task in hand, and there will inevitably be challenges as well as opportunities for Britain’s farmers.

So just what part can the local farming industry play in helping to feed both British and world populations?

That’s the subject of ‘9 Billion People: Feeding Britain in the Global Context’ - the Three Counties Agricultural Society’s fourth annual Farming Conference, which takes place at the Malvern Showground in Worcestershire on Thursday, 18 November, 2010.

A rising world population, higher disposable income in developing countries and an inevitable growth in food consumption, has put food security firmly back on the agenda.

But, it is set against a backdrop of increasing concern for the environment and a sustainable agricultural industry, and this year’s Conference, sponsored by Lloyds TSB Agriculture, looks set to provoke exciting, cutting-edge debate.

The Society has secured two of the country’s top speakers; Professor John Beddington, Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government and Poul Christensen, Chairman of Natural England.

Professor Beddington was appointed as Government Chief Scientific Adviser in 2008. His main research interest is the application of biological and economic analysis to problems of natural resource management, including fisheries, pest control, wildlife management and the control of disease.

He has been an adviser to a number of Government departments including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Cabinet Office, to name a few. In 2004, he was awarded the Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, by HM The Queen, for services to fisheries, science and management.

Poul Christensen CBE is a senior partner of dairy farm, Kingston Hill, in Oxfordshire, and has a long track record of integrating conservation with the demands of modern farming. He is Chair of Natural England, and has played a prominent role in leading the farming sector through changing and challenging times.

He is the joint founder of the Tenant Farmers’ Association, was Chairman of the Milk Marque in the late 1990s and Chair of the Rural Development Service, which launched the modern Environmental Stewardship schemes. He is currently a Director of Agricultural Central Trading Limited, a farmer supply co-operative, a member of the Defra Management Board and a Board Member of the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee. He received his CBE in 1991, for services to agriculture and the commercial development of the Agricultural Development Advisory Service (ADAS).

Taking the Chair this year is Dick Mason, Agricultural Policy Director for Lloyds TSB and the Bank of Scotland. The event is also supported by Clarke Roxburgh, the Country Land & Business Association, Countrywide, Harrison Clark Solicitors and Andrew Grant.

John Wilesmith, spokesman for the Three Counties Agricultural Society, said: “Food security is a current, and particularly challenging subject, and John and Poul are eminent in their respective fields.

The Farming Conference has been gathering momentum since its launch in 2007. It is now renowned as a useful and thought-provoking forum for discussing industry matters and an excellent networking environment. It’s also an opportunity to meet up with colleagues and friends in convivial surroundings and we look forward to another successful evening.”

The Conference begins at 7 pm. Tickets are £8, to include supper, and available either from the Ticket Hotline: 01684 584929, or online.