Defra Secretary of State Caroline Spelman will lead a strong line-up of speakers at Agribusiness 2013, the Agricultural Industries Confederation’s annual conference for the agricultural supply industry which this year takes the theme of ‘Staying Ahead of the Curve’.

The conference will be held on November 14^th at the East of England Showground.

AIC Chief Operating Officer and conference organiser John Kelley said: “Many issues challenge the agricultural supply industry today, which makes ‘staying ahead of the curve’ increasingly difficult. However, our members need to be pro-active in their thinking and we hope that this conference will help them to do exactly that.”

As well as the Secretary of State, other leading speakers include:

Joanne Denney-Finch, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) will describe consumer influence on food choice and reveal new research conducted in association with AIC on GMOs.

James Neville, who chairs the exciting initiative, Dairy 2020, will explain how the dairy sector – and hence AIC members – will be affected.

Professor Giles Oldroyd from the John Innes Centre will discuss the major new £6.3 million project funded by the Gates Foundation into cereal research that will affect the UK and overseas.

Other speakers are Clive Black, Head of Research, Shore Capital Brokers who will give an overview of the economy and Hertfordshire farmer Ian Pigott talking about the critical challenge of attracting new entrants to agriculture. AIC Chief Executive David Caffall will outline some key initiatives that AIC has acted on including the Greenhouse Gas Action Plan, Common Agricultural Policy and other relevant sector issues.

The conference is preceded on the evening of the 13 November by the pre-conference supper which is also held in Peterborough. Both events offer unrivalled opportunities for delegates to network with senior executives in the agri-supply industry as well as meeting the AIC team.

Further information can be found on the AIC website at www. agindustries.org.uk

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