Resilience tops agenda at Great Yorkshire Show Future Farmers breakfast

Farmers will explore how to build resilient farm businesses amid testing economic times, when they come together for the Future Farmers of Yorkshire’s Great Yorkshire Show Breakfast Meeting next month.

Stirring stories of farming resilience will be shared at a breakfast meeting at the 164th Great Yorkshire Show to empower those trying to make their way in the agricultural industry during a time of testing economics.

Future Farmers of Yorkshire, a thriving network of farmers, vets and other industry professionals supported by farming charity the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, will host its well-established, annual Breakfast Meeting at the Vertu Motors GYS Stage near Grey Gate on the morning of Wednesday 12th July.

All are welcome to register for a place at the Breakfast Meeting, which will be chaired by Caroline Horn of George F. White, who are kindly sponsoring the event along with AHDB and Oxbury Bank Plc.

Caroline said: “Entitled ‘Bounce without breaking – building resilient farm businesses’, the Breakfast Meeting will provide a fantastic discussion and will hopefully demonstrate that even small changes can have a huge impact on farm businesses, with panellists having examples to prove it is possible.”

As well as prompting a lively discussion, the Future Farmers Breakfast Meeting is a great social occasion, offering a chance for those who work in the industry to come together, catch up with friends and make new connections.

Nick Grayson, Chair of Future Farmers of Yorkshire who farms near Rotherham with his wife Carys, said: “The stage is set for a fantastic get-together at the Great Yorkshire Show and you don’t have to be a member of Future Farmers to join us – you just need a valid Show ticket or membership of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society for admission to the Great Yorkshire Showground.

“The topic has been carefully chosen and feels apt at a time when many in the industry must make tricky decisions in a difficult economic climate. Against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis, support payments for farm businesses are changing dramatically. This means farm businesses need to be resilient and agile. We must look for opportunities to add value to what we do.”

Attendees at the Future Farmers of Yorkshire Breakfast Meeting will hear from Becki Leach, Head of People and Senior Consultant at Kite Consulting. Becki delivers people management and recruitment consultancy to large dairy businesses across the UK, supporting dairy farmers with professionalising their approach to recruiting, retaining and training their teams. 

There will be insights from Philip Halhead, founder, owner and CEO of Norbreck Genetics, a company based near Lancaster which provides high-quality beef semen from multiple breeds to organizations around the world. The team at Norbreck Genetics works alongside the 300-cow Holstein dairy herd based at Phil’s family farm.

Also sharing his thoughts will be Adam Palmer, co-founder of Breckenholme Trading Company. A trained accountant, Adam took over the farm at Breckenholme, North Yorkshire in 2000. He followed in his grandfather’s footsteps by continuing to farm both arable crops and sheep, whilst diversifying to become a producer of cold-pressed rapeseed oil, flavoured oils, dressings and mayonnaise.

North Yorkshire farmer Chris Harrison will bring his perspective to the topic. Chris is part of a family enterprise which has spanned five generations and experienced a turning point in 2010 with the introduction of free range layers alongside existing arable cropping.

The line-up is completed by Mark Pearson, Senior Agricultural Manager at Oxbury Bank Plc covering the North of England who will join the panel for a Q&A. Raised on an arable and pig farm in East Yorkshire, Mark has previously worked in livestock marketing and as a land agent before spells with NatWest and HSBC. His switch to agri-banking was prompted by the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak.

For details about Future Farmers of Yorkshire and to become a member for free, visit yas.co.uk/futurefarmers.

To register a place at the Future Farmers of Yorkshire Great Yorkshire Show Breakfast Meeting on Wednesday 12th July, visit GYS_Breakfast.eventbrite.com. Breakfast is from 7.45am. Act quickly to secure your place, tickets for Wednesday are selling fast.