Star speakers at the 2025 Northern Farming Conference

‘People, Planning and Profit: Building a Resilient Future for Farming’

Leading thinkers, farmers and opinion shapers be at Hexham Auction Mart on Wednesday 5 November to explore key elements to farming success in what is an ever-changing operating context: people, planning and profit.

This year’s conference will explore At the heart of every thriving farm lies a trinity: people, planning, and profit. The resilience of rural communities is built not just on acres and livestock, but on the generations of families who weather uncertainty together, adapting with ingenuity and grit. People are instrumental in making a farm thrive.

Strategic planning rooted in both tradition and forward-thinking guides decisions on crop rotations, diversification, and investment, ensuring that farms remain agile in the face of shifting policies and unpredictable markets.

Profitability, though influenced by global forces and government decisions, ultimately depends on human resourcefulness and collaboration. As we look to the future, it is this careful balance people harnessing plans to turn hard work into sustainable returns that will determine which farms not only survive, but flourish.

This year’s conference will explore solutions and case studies which can inspire delegates with confidence, in spite of operating against an adverse back-drop. Yes, it is about food security, and there is also great social and environmental value locked up in farming so, what are the levers we can pull for optimum return?

Yes, it is about sweating your assets, but also about calculating risks and returns - approaching challenges differently. Farmers have the superpower to think and control their farming businesses.

Our speakers will share their insight and solutions – big and small – that could influence farming in future by making it more resilient and profitable.

This year’s top-notch speakers include:

• Lord Curry of Kirkharle, Northumbrian farmer and farming advocate
• Alistair Carmichael, MP (Orkney and the Shetlands) and Efra Committee Chair (pending urgent parliamentary commitments)
• Baroness Minette Batters, former NFU President, Farm Profitability Review
• Jeremy Moody, Secretary and Adviser at The Central Association of Agricultural Valuers
• Sarah Baker, Head of Economic Analysis at the AHDB
• Prof. Paul Wilson, President, Agricultural Economic Society
• Kat Thorne, The Morning Game Changer (Guest speaker)

Farmer Panel:

• Duncan Morrison, Beef farmer. Near Inverurie
• Lucy Story, Tenant Farmer at Rugley Farm, near Alnwick
• Thomas Todd, Farmer at Barelees Farm, Cornhill on Tweed
• Graham Rutherford, Northumberland Beef and Lamb Farmer, Longhorsley

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

Conference Chair, and Beef and Lamb Sector Director at the AHDB (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board), Samantha Charlton said:

“We are very much looking forward to welcoming a brilliant line-up of speakers to this year’s conference. As in previous years, it promises to be an illuminating event focused on the key elements of a thriving farm business: the people, planning and profit. Our speakers will share their insight and solutions – big and small – that could influence farming in future by making it more resilient and profitable.”

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

The conference is a joint venture between Armstrong Watson, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), Hexham and Northern Marts, HSBC, Womble Bond Dickinson, Youngs RPS and the Soil Association.

For more information and to register please visit: www.northernfarmingconference.org.uk To get the latest conference news and updates, follow @NorthFarmConf on X.