Farm show targets new income streams

Larking Gowen will stage its 2026 Autumn Farming Conference across four East Anglian locations in November as farmers face continuing pressure from tax reform, policy change and tighter margins.

The accountancy firm will hold half-day events in Bury St Edmunds, Fakenham, Norwich and Essex. The series follows record attendance in 2025, when more than 250 farmers, growers, landowners and rural business owners attended four conferences.

Bookings for this year’s events are due to open shortly. Each conference will run from 8am until noon, maintaining the shorter regional format introduced last year to make the meetings more accessible to farm businesses.

Regional programme

The first conference will take place at All Saints Hotel, Bury St Edmunds, on Tuesday 17 November. Fakenham Racecourse follows on Thursday 19 November, with a Norwich meeting on Tuesday 24 November. The final event will be held at Wivenhoe House, Colchester, on Wednesday 25 November.

The conference series was launched in 2022 to bring farmers, growers, landowners and advisers together for practical discussion of agricultural business issues. Previous programmes have covered taxation, succession, farm support, diversification, environmental schemes and agricultural policy.

Last year’s events were moved into December following the timing of the Autumn Budget, allowing speakers to assess its implications for rural businesses. Sessions included inheritance tax mitigation, pensions legislation, the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Environmental Land Management schemes.

The 2025 meetings also highlighted subdued confidence across the sector. Delegate polling found negative sentiment towards farming’s future outweighed positive responses by three-to-one at some venues.

Larking Gowen has yet to publish the full speaker programme for 2026. The firm says booking will be available soon. For details, visit www.larking-gowen.co.uk