The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Conference will take place on Tuesday 25th February 2025, with Defra Secretary The Rt Hon Steve Reed MP to lead the keynote address.
The 2025 conference will be held at the QEII Centre in London, featuring keynote speeches from across the industry exploring the theme ‘Foundations for the Future’. It will run from 10am to 6pm.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw will open and close the conference with an address, with an optional networking session held at the end of the day.
What’s on?
Keynote address:
- The Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Session 1: Science and technology to grow
- Professor Michael Lee, deputy vice chancelor, Harper Adams University
- Phil Bicknell, CEO, UK Agri-Tech Centre
- Chair: Aled Jones, NFU Cymru President
Session 2: Export to grow
- Sandra Sullivan MBE, director, Food & Drink Exporters Association
- Richard Clothier, managing director, Wyke Farms
- Chair: David Exwood, NFU deputy president
Session 3: Skills and investment to grow
- Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive, CBI
- Andus Davison, Eccentric chairman and Light Touch CEO
- Chair: Rachel Hallos, NFU vice president
Henry Plumb Lecture
- Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies
- Chair: Terry Jones, NFU director general
Ticket sales for the 2025 NFU Conference close on Friday 24th January 2025.
Click here for more information.
Farmers to take part in National Day of Unity
This comes as NFU announced a National Day of Unity, with farmers coming together to encourage Government to halt the family farm tax.
On Saturday 25th January, towns in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, from Land’s End to Shetland and from the Giant’s Causeway to Dover, will see farmers gathering to thank the British public for their “overwhelming support”, and to underline to their parliamentarians that the campaign will not stop until the tax is “finally subject to consultation and proper scrutiny”.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “Farmers haven’t taken this destructive policy lying down and we won’t give up. There is too much at risk - our families, our future, our heritage and the undermining of the very sector that produces a safe, secure supply of British food.
“This date will give everyone that wants to an opportunity to support family farms from right across the UK, to show unity and strength, and for farmers and growers to speak as one in our call for government to stop the family farm tax.
“We are so grateful to the British public for their ongoing support on this issue. The 25th is not just a day for the farming community to show unity, but anyone who believes Britain’s family farms, and the high quality food they produce, deserve to be better valued and supported.”
