New host farm makes debut for Cereals 2024

Thousands of visitors will attend next month’s Cereals event – with organisers reporting good sales of early bird tickets.

Hosted by Alex Farr and his cousin Edward Wainwright-Lee, the two-day show on 11-12 June is being held across 45ha of outdoor event space at Bygrave Woods, Newnham Farm, in Hertfordshire.

The venue is a diversified business on the Farr family’s 900ha arable farm – complete with established trackways and amenities. Up to 20,000 visitors and exhibitors are expected to attend the flagship arable show.

“We love welcoming people to Bygrave Woods – it’s great to be the host farm for Cereals after attending it over the years,” says Mr Farr.

“The event offers such breadth of information and technology; the progress in robotic technology is always something that gets our attention – and it never gets old meeting new and old friends.”

Exhibitors

Exhibitor numbers are 15% up year-on-year, with exhibitors bringing a wealth of practical and technical expertise, says event organiser Ali McEntyre.

“Every year we learn more about what Cereals visitors want. This year’s line-up reflects all that feedback – we are absolutely committed to making the event even better every year, and we’re looking forward to opening the gates in June.”

Arable agronomy

As always, Cereals will showcase the latest developments in arable agronomy, machinery, technology and business advice.

Visitors can expect to see more than 450 exhibitors, 200 live demonstrations, seminars and individual crop plots  with the latest varieties.

The KWS-sponsored Seed to Shelf stage – a fresh take on the main stage – will trace the entire arable supply chain from seed to retailer.

It will include talks from plant breeders, agronomists, farm contractors and farmers, through to grain marketers, processors, retail brands and retailers. The stage will also host a political welcoming session.

Remaining at the heart of the show are the crop plots, expanded by a further six new exhibitors – putting even more varieties on display. Experts will be on-hand to guide and advise growers across both days.

A winter wheat and barley feature curated by Ceres Rural will also return. It will include a plots of popular winter wheats for different end markets; and a collection of two-row and six-row malting barley varieties.

These plots will give visitors the opportunity to see some Recommended List varieties side-by-side.

Soil health

A 20m-long NIAB Soil Hole will give visitors an insight into cultivation effects and crop growth below ground. A soil drainage and demonstration area is being curated by the National Association of Agricultural Contractors.

This year brings with it an expansion of demonstration areas.

The Syngenta Sprays and Sprayers Arena, drill demonstrations and NAAC arena will showcase the latest precision technology, innovations in land preparation, establishment and crop protection.

Working demonstrations will include machines from Agriweld, Case IH, Maschio Gaspardo, Hardi, Merlo, New Holland and SDF. Automated and robotic equipment will  be in action courtesy of AgXeed and Autonomous Agri Solutions.

For full details and tickets, visit www.cerealsevent.co.uk

About this year’s host farm

Newnham Farm encompasses different elements of many modern farm businesses up and down the country.

The arable rotation is based on winter wheat (480ha), oilseed rape (130ha), sugar beet (120ha) and sunflowers (10ha). The farm includes companion and cover crops,  wild bird seed and wildflower mixes.

Diversification started with the event space – Bygrave Woods – and has continued to grow. A 380,000-broiler unit comprises 10 sheds, with four woodchip boilers, and a portfolio of residential and commercial lettings.

The diversified nature of the farm business is helping it to develop its own circular economies – including using manure from the poultry on the wheat crop, with any wheat that does not make milling grade fed back to the poultry.