THIS year’s Northern Farming Conference takes place next month with a strong line-up of speakers.

Under the theme ‘Sustainable Attainable?’, leading politicians, farmers, opinions shapers, authors, and thinkers will be at Hexham Auction Mart on Wednesday, November 2, to address the topic.

Speakers will give their take on the future risks and opportunities for farming in the context of a wider sustainability agenda which dominates farm support and government policy. How can food production and security be balanced with a drive to net zero and environmental policies? And in this balancing act, can farming still be profitable?

This year’s speakers include: The Rt Hon Sir Robert Goodwill, MP, farmer and chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee; Daniel Zeichner, MP and Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs); Janet Hughes, Defra’s director for the Future Farming and Countryside Programme; Henri Murison, chief executive offocer, Northern Powerhouse Partnership; Paul Temple, farmer, Wold Farm, Yorkshire; Lizzie McLaughlin and Rebecca Wilson, of Boots and Heels; Patrick Laurie, author and farmer from Galloway; and Kate Hawley and Nick Prince of the Forestry Commission.

Conference chairman, and partner & head of agriculture at Armstrong Watson, Andrew Robinson, said: “We are very much looking forward to welcoming a brilliant line-up of speakers to this year’s conference which will be held at Hexham Auction Mart on November 2.

“We are looking forward to an entertaining and illuminating day which will cover a vast range of topics related to the sustainability agenda. What does it look like from a farmer and landowner perspective?”

This annual event is one of the most prestigious events in the north, attracting well more than 200 farmers, industry experts and politicians to network, listen and question a super line-up of speakers.

The event is renowned for its mix of formal and informal debate and has now cemented its position as the ‘go-to’ conference for the sector in the North.

The conference is a joint venture between Armstrong Watson, Catchment Sensitive Farming, the CLA, Gibson & Co Solicitors, Hexham and Northern Marts, North East Grains, Womble Bond Dickinson and Youngs RPS.

For more information, visit www.northernfarmingconference.org.uk or call 01748 90 7070.

To get the latest conference news and updates, follow @NorthFarmConf on Twitter.