03 May 2011

The big guns are travelling to Blackpool to help YFC members promote British agriculture.

Sainsbury's Annie Graham, Natural England's Poul Christensen and President of the WI Ruth Bond are amongst the lead speakers at the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs' (NFYFC) annual agriculture and rural affairs forum. They will be working with their discussion groups to devise ways of taking the topic into YFC hands.

To celebrate NFYFC re-joining CEJA (European Young Farmers) and to continue to highlight the importance of European politics, CEJA President Joris Baecke flies over from the Netherlands to discuss European farming and CEJA's position on support for the next generation of farmers in the forthcoming CAP Reform.

NFYFC Chairman James Chapman and former agriculture chairwoman Katherine Sealy represented YFCs at the CEJA General Assembly in April. James and Katherine spoke with the Agriculture Counsellor at the UK Permanent Representation (UKREP) during their visit to Brussels and will encourage fellow YFC members to take an active part in CEJA.

“NFYFC represents 23,000 young people who have an interest in agriculture and the countryside. We want to make sure that we play our part in promoting our industry and are delighted to have such high-calibre speakers to spark debate and launch new challenges for YFC members. The feedback from the discussion groups will be used constructively, not only to shape future work of the national agriculture committee, but also to inform policy makers and industry organisations of our members' concerns,” said Milly Wastie, chairwoman of the forum.

The British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB), in conjunction with NFYFC, will be using the forum to launch a new competition for YFC members to help promote British Wool Week.

A host of industry exhibitors will be joining the forum including the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS), Lantra, NFU, Natural England, WI, DairyCo, CEJA, Sainsbury's, Campaign for the Farmed Environment, NatWest and the British Wool Marketing Board.

The forum is being held in the Spanish Hall, Winter Gardens, Blackpool on Saturday 7 May at 11.00am and is sponsored by Defra and HOPS Labour Solutions. It is part of the activities at the NFYFC Annual Convention which includes NFYFC competition finals, celebration of the year's achievements, and the annual general meeting.