Georgina Lamb

Senior Partnerships Manager, FCN

No bio provided

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Baroness Minette Batters

Minette Batters made history as the first woman elected President of the National Farmers’ Union in its 113-year history, representing over 46,000 farming businesses across England and Wales.  

Her leadership spanned critical periods including Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. A passionate advocate for British food and farming, she led a landmark campaign in 2020 that garnered over one million signatures to protect food standards. She co-founded ‘Ladies in Beef’ and the Great British Beef Week, and is a regular media contributor. 

A tenant farmer on the Longford Estate in Wiltshire, she began farming in 1998 and now runs a diversified business including beef, arable crops, events, and floriculture. A trained Cordon Bleu chef and former amateur jockey, she is also a dedicated charity fundraiser, having raised over £100,000. In 2024, she became a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and was previously appointed Deputy Lieutenant to Queen Elizabeth. 

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Jonathan Lane

Managing Director, ADM

No bio provided

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Caz Graham

BBC Radio Presenter and Reporter,

Caz Graham is a regular presenter and reporter on Farming Today and On Your Farm on BBC Radio 4. She’s a freelance radio journalist and has reported for numerous Radio 4 programmes including Today, PM, the World at One and Woman’s Hour over the last 25 years.  

She reported extensively on the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001, presenting and producing Sony Award winning programmes and compiling a book, Foot and Mouth - Heart and Soul, launched by the then Director General of the BBC Greg Dyke, documenting the experiences of 50 people who’d found their lives turned upside down by the epidemic. 

Caz grew up on a mixed farm near Carlisle and she’s proud to have made her professional debut reading out the lamb bank and fat stock prices on BBC Radio Cumbria. 

---

Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation the trade association which represents agri business in the UK. His experience is from a career in agriculture having also held a number of roles within the National Farmers Union before joining the AIC in 2018, as well as working as a land agent and auctioneer in his early career. In this role Robert sits on a number of Government stakeholder groups including the DiT Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, the Defra group on Productivity as well as having overall responsibility for the operation of the AIC.

: https://www.agindustries.org.uk
: robertsheasby
: @Agindustriesuk

---

Dame Angela Eagle MP

Minister of State (Minister for Food Security & Rural Affairs),

Dame Angela Eagle DBE was appointed Minister of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 6 September 2025.
She was previously Minister of State (Minister for Border Security and Asylum) at the Home Office from 8 July 2024 to 6 September 2025. She was elected as the MP for Wallasey in the general election of July 2024.

Political career

Angela  was first elected to Parliament in 1992, when she became the first ever Labour Member of Parliament for Wallasey.   
In her time as MP for Wallasey, Angela has served as a minister in several departments. Under Tony Blair, these included Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions; for Social Security and for Home Affairs. She also served as Opposition Whip under Tony Blair.
In Gordon Brown’s government she served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Minister of State for Pensions and Ageing Society.
In Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet, she served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. In 2011, she became Shadow Leader of the House. In 2015, she was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, a position she held until June 2016.  
During her time as a backbencher, Angela has sat on the Treasury Select Committee and the Intelligence and Security Committee and held a number of positions within the Labour Party including membership of the National Executive Committee and Chair of the Equalities Committee.

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Mairi Gougeon MSP

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands,

Mairi Gougeon was previously a councillor for Brechin and Edzell, during which she was chairwoman of the East of Scotland European Consortium. 

She is a history graduate from the University of Aberdeen. 

Mairi was elected as the MSP for Angus North and Mearns in May 2016. She was appointed Minister for Public Health and Sport in December 2020. 

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Huw Irranca-Davies MS

Deputy First Minister, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs,

Huw Irranca-Davies MS is the Welsh Government's Deputy First Minister and has responsibility for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.

Before being elected to the Senedd in 2016, he was an MP in Westminster. He served as Environment Minister in Defra and later as Shadow Minister for Food and Farming from 2011-2015.

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Sam Lowe

Partner, Flint Global

Sam heads Flint’s trade and market access practice. He advises clients on global trade policy, with a focus on removing barriers to trade, customs, economic security, and managing supply chain risk. 

Sam is also a visiting senior research fellow at the Policy Institute, Kings College London, and provides advanced training on issues such as rules of origin, trade and sustainability, and trade and development for Government officials. He is regularly asked to comment on trade issues by global media publications such as The Financial Times, The Economist, and The Guardian. 

Before joining Flint, Sam was a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. He has held positions as a member of the UK government’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group (2019-2020), a senior adviser to the Blakeney Group, and the trade lead for a prominent environmental charity. In his early career, he worked on issues relating to the rights of small-scale gemstone miners in Greenland and forced land acquisition in Uganda.

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Dr Elliott Grant

Visiting Fellow (IfM), University of Cambridge

ELLIOTT GRANT works at the intersection of technology and agriculture, and has led the development and commercialization of breakthrough technologies throughout the global food system.  

In 2017 Dr. Grant joined Google[X] to lead the development of foundational AI for agriculture, and in 2023 became CEO of Mineral - one of Alphabet’s “Other Bets”. He serves on the boards of Sun World International and the International Fresh Produce Association, and is a Scientific Advisor to Driscoll’s. Prior to joining Google, he was the CEO of ShopWell Labs, a pioneer of personalized nutrition; the founding CEO of HarvestMark, a world leader in food traceability; a consultant at McKinsey & Company; and the Vice Chair of the Produce Marketing Association.  

He has been awarded more than fifty US Patents and invented (then open-sourced) the VoiceCode which is a traceability standard on every case of fresh produce in N. America.  Elliott earned a PhD in Engineering from Cambridge University.  In addition to advising multiple startups in agriculture, he is currently a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing and at Trinity Hall, where he researches the future of agriculture in the coming era of AI.   

He lives in Cambridge with his wife, and writes about the future of agriculture here. 

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Kelly Hewson-Fisher

Director, Head of Rural Research Savills Rural, Savills

Kelly Hewson-Fisher is Director and Head of Rural Research for Savills UK. Kelly started life on a dairy farm in Lincolnshire and her early career focused on agricultural consultancy across the country.  

Kelly spent seven years as an agricultural advisor with Anglian Water, working with farmers across Lincolnshire to look at collaborative projects to improve water quality.  

Kelly moved to the NFU as their National Water Resources Specialist where she focused on working with regulatory and government bodies calling for a fair share of water for agriculture.  

Kelly is a Director of the Oxford Farming Conference and is Chair of the Lincolnshire Farming Conference. Kelly’s current role with Savills is leading an 11-strong team to provide insight and thought leadership for the rural sector across the UK.  

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Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation the trade association which represents agri business in the UK. His experience is from a career in agriculture having also held a number of roles within the National Farmers Union before joining the AIC in 2018, as well as working as a land agent and auctioneer in his early career. In this role Robert sits on a number of Government stakeholder groups including the DiT Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, the Defra group on Productivity as well as having overall responsibility for the operation of the AIC.

: https://www.agindustries.org.uk
: robertsheasby
: @Agindustriesuk

---

Tim J Smith CBE

Chairman, Cranswick plc

Tim has extensive experience in the UK food sector, having held senior roles in food manufacturing, government regulation, and supermarket retail. 

Currently serving as Non-Executive Chairman of Cranswick plc, Tim was previously Group Quality Director at Tesco plc from 2012 to 2017. Prior to joining Tesco, he was Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Before leading the FSA, Tim held Chief Executive roles at several major food businesses, including Arla and Sara Lee. 

In addition to his industry roles, Tim has made significant contributions to government initiatives. He chaired the Trade and Agriculture Commission and currently chairs the Food and Drink Sector Council, helping to guide strategic direction for the industry. 

In recognition of his contributions to food and agriculture, Tim was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2022. 

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Baroness Minette Batters

Minette Batters made history as the first woman elected President of the National Farmers’ Union in its 113-year history, representing over 46,000 farming businesses across England and Wales.  

Her leadership spanned critical periods including Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. A passionate advocate for British food and farming, she led a landmark campaign in 2020 that garnered over one million signatures to protect food standards. She co-founded ‘Ladies in Beef’ and the Great British Beef Week, and is a regular media contributor. 

A tenant farmer on the Longford Estate in Wiltshire, she began farming in 1998 and now runs a diversified business including beef, arable crops, events, and floriculture. A trained Cordon Bleu chef and former amateur jockey, she is also a dedicated charity fundraiser, having raised over £100,000. In 2024, she became a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and was previously appointed Deputy Lieutenant to Queen Elizabeth. 

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Professor Pete Falloon

Science Lead - Food Security, Met Office

Professor Pete Falloon (FRMetS, FRSA) is the Met Office’s Science Lead – Food Security, and leads the Met Office’s Climate Service for Defra on Food, Farming and Natural Environment. Pete has over 25 years of experience in the impacts of climate and land use change on food systems and the environment. Pete has been at the Met Office Hadley Centre since 2004 and led the Climate Impacts Modelling team from 2009-2019. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and of the Royal Meteorological Society, a contributing author to the UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) and was a member of the Global Food Security Programme’s Programme Coordination Group board from 2013-2023. Pete is also Associate Professor in Climate Resilient Food Systems at the University of Bristol, Sustainability Director for Food Drink Devon CIC and an Honorary Associate at the Walker Institute. 

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George Freeman MP

Former Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Agritech,

Elected to Parliament in 2010 after a 15year career in technology venture capital, George has held a number of key Science & Technology Ministerial roles under four Prime Ministers over the last 14years: as first UK Minister for Life Science, first Minister for Decarbonisation & Digitalisation of Transport and Minister of State for Science & Technology shaping the UK’s programs for Quantum, Fusion, Space and EngBio. In 2014 George launched the UK Agritech Strategy with the Agritech Catalyst Fund, regional Agri Innovation Centres & AgriMetrics Centre. 

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Caz Graham

BBC Radio Presenter and Reporter,

Caz Graham is a regular presenter and reporter on Farming Today and On Your Farm on BBC Radio 4. She’s a freelance radio journalist and has reported for numerous Radio 4 programmes including Today, PM, the World at One and Woman’s Hour over the last 25 years.  

She reported extensively on the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001, presenting and producing Sony Award winning programmes and compiling a book, Foot and Mouth - Heart and Soul, launched by the then Director General of the BBC Greg Dyke, documenting the experiences of 50 people who’d found their lives turned upside down by the epidemic. 

Caz grew up on a mixed farm near Carlisle and she’s proud to have made her professional debut reading out the lamb bank and fat stock prices on BBC Radio Cumbria. 

---

Jonathan Lane

Managing Director, ADM

No bio provided

---

The Rt Hon Sir Robert Goodwill

Sir Robert Goodwill was the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee from 2022-2024. He was also Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 5 March 2019 to 25 July 2019. He served as Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby from 2005 and 2024.

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Alicia Chivers

CEO, RABI

Since joining RABI in October 2018, Alicia has been leading the charity through an exciting period of transition to ensure that RABI is best placed to provide enduring, relevant and accessible support. Having initially trained and worked in commercial legal services, Alicia subsequently retrained and worked in practice as a charity specialist Chartered Accountant before moving into her first direct charity management role. Bringing over 15 years of experience of senior leadership across the voluntary sector, Alicia has also served as a Trustee and Treasurer on the boards of several national charities.

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The Rt Hon Sir Robert Goodwill

Sir Robert Goodwill was the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee from 2022-2024. He was also Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 5 March 2019 to 25 July 2019. He served as Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby from 2005 and 2024.

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Jonathan Lane

Managing Director, ADM

Jonathan Lane is the Managing Director of the human, pet and animal nutrition company ADM. He has played a pivotal role in shaping ADM's climate-smart strategy in the UK and is deeply committed to driving innovation in the agri-food sector.

Mr Lane was elected Chair of AIC's Board of Directors at the agri-supply trade association's AGM in October 2024, having previously held the role of Combinable Crops Sector Chair.

---

Tom Heap

Television and Radio Reporter,

Tom Heap is a broadcaster, journalist and author. He is a regular on BBC1's Countryfile presenting the current affairs films and co-host of the Radio 4's new environment series and podcast 'Rare Earth'.  

He devised and presented 'The Climate Show with Tom Heap' on Sky News and YouTube. His new book - 'Land Smart' -  has just been published in which he looks at how we can win the race for space on Earth.   

He was the creator of the climate change solutions radio series '39 Ways to Save the Planet' and wrote the accompanying book. Tom spent many years at BBC News becoming both 'Science and Environment Correspondent' and 'Rural Affairs Correspondent'. Outside work he likes to hike, bike, grow chillies, watch movies and bodge carpentry. 

---

The Rt Hon Daniel Zeichner MP

Minister of State (Minster for Food Security & Rural Affairs),

Daniel Zeichner was appointed Minister of State (Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs) at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 8 July 2024. His brief includes farming, food security, agri-science, and the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMs).

 

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Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation the trade association which represents agri business in the UK. His experience is from a career in agriculture having also held a number of roles within the National Farmers Union before joining the AIC in 2018, as well as working as a land agent and auctioneer in his early career. In this role Robert sits on a number of Government stakeholder groups including the DiT Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, the Defra group on Productivity as well as having overall responsibility for the operation of the AIC.

: https://www.agindustries.org.uk
: robertsheasby
: @Agindustriesuk

---

The Rt Hon Daniel Zeichner MP

Minister of State (Minster for Food Security & Rural Affairs),

Daniel Zeichner was appointed Minister of State (Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs) at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 8 July 2024. His brief includes farming, food security, agri-science, and the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMs).

 

---

Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation the trade association which represents agri business in the UK. His experience is from a career in agriculture having also held a number of roles within the National Farmers Union before joining the AIC in 2018, as well as working as a land agent and auctioneer in his early career. In this role Robert sits on a number of Government stakeholder groups including the DiT Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, the Defra group on Productivity as well as having overall responsibility for the operation of the AIC.

: https://www.agindustries.org.uk
: robertsheasby
: @Agindustriesuk

---

Vicky Robinson

Head of Sustainability, AIC

Vicky Robinson is Head of Sustainability and is responsible for leading and co-ordinating AIC's work on sustainability. 

A 2019 Nuffield Scholar, Vicky was previously Technical Director at Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF), which followed 22 years working for Natural England and its predecessors on agri-environment delivery, policy development and implementation.

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George Burgess

Director Agriculture and Rural Economy, Scottish Government

Prior to his current role, George was head of the Food and Drink division, with responsibilities including EU exit, Covid recovery and trade policy. He has a wide range of experience working on climate change, environmental quality, EU and international trade and investment, devolution and constitutional policy, as well as having been private secretary to the Deputy First Minister.

George is married with one daughter. He was born in Aberdeen and attended Keith Grammar School in Banffshire. He has an MA in Natural Sciences and a PhD on Electron Microscopy from the University of Cambridge.

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Huw Irranca-Davies MS

Deputy First Minister, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs,

Huw Irranca-Davies MS is the Welsh Government's Deputy First Minister and has responsibility for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.

Before being elected to the Senedd in 2016, he was an MP in Westminster. He served as Environment Minister in Defra and later as Shadow Minister for Food and Farming from 2011-2015.

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Tom Bradshaw

President, NFU

Tom Bradshaw, the President of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, farms in partnership with his wife, Emily, and his parents in North Essex.  Alongside a small family owned farm, they run a contract farming business growing a range of combinable crops.  

Tom was Chair of the National Crops Board before becoming part of the Presidential team in 2020 and being elected President in 2024.  Tom was successfully re-elected as President for the next two-year term at the NFU Conference on 25 February 2026. 

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Will Jennings

Independent Adviser,

Will Jennings co-leads a specialised private practice focused on understanding and exploiting uncertainty in operations and markets. From 2020 to 2024 Will was CEO of Rabobank UK, a Wholesale banking operation focused on food and agribusiness and the energy transition, leading the operation through a period of significant internal and external change. From 2015 to 2020 Will was Chief Risk Officer for Rabobank's European Region, providing 8 European countries with effective full coverage 2nd line risk management support.

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Henry Dimbleby

Henry Dimbleby is the author of Ravenous: How to get ourselves and our planet into shape. Published in March 2023, this analysis of the food system – how it is malfunctioning it, and what to do about it – builds on the work he did in the independent National Food Strategy, described by Prue Leith “the best government document that’s ever come out”. 

Dimbleby is the managing Partner of Bramble Partners, co-founder and former CEO of Leon restaurants. He also co-founded the Sustainable Restaurant Association and the charity Chefs in Schools, which brings restaurant chefs into school kitchens. In 2013, he co-authored The School Food Plan, a blueprint for government setting out actions to transform what children eat in schools and how they learn about food. It resulted in the introduction of free school meals for all children up to the age of eight, and cooking lessons being made obligatory for all children up to 14. 

From 2018 to 2023, Dimbleby was the lead non-executive board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, serving under Michael Gove, Theresa Villiers, George Eustice, Ranil Jayawardene and Thérèse Coffey. He has also advised the Labour party on how to improve the sustainability and security of the food system. 

Henry previously worked as a Strategy Consultant at Bain & Company, where he worked with businesses on strategy, performance improvement and organisational design. Before that he worked as a journalist at The Daily Telegraph and a chef at the Michelin-starred Four Seasons Inn on the Park. 

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Emma Loder-Symonds

Director and owner, Nonington Farms Ltd

Emma Loder-Symonds co-owns and directs LEAF demonstration farm Nonington Farms with her husband, James.

She heads up both the educational and environmental elements of the farm, hosting thousands of people each year on their carbon negative farm wanting to gain a better understanding of regenerative agriculture and how to produce food sustainably, for which she won recognition as both NFU Farming hero in 2022, and LEAF-Bayer education award in 2019.

Nonington Farms recently won the title of Farmers Weekly Environmental Champion. She has started milling wheat grown on the farm and selling it to local restaurants and bakeries.

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Paul Cherry

Groundswell

Paul Cherry farms 1,000 hectares with his brother in North Hertfordshire.

He is passionate about soil health and in 2011 they moved the arable operation to a completely no-till system and have since gone away from using any insecticides. The farm grows a range of cereals and legumes using a strictly regenerative farming technique – minimal soil disturbance, use of cover crops whenever possible and integrating livestock into the arable rotation.

They also run a 130 head beef shorthorn suckler cow herd fattening all the young stock on a purely pasture and straw based diet and mob stocking the herd on pastures and herbal leys in the summer months. No fertiliser or wormers are used on the grassland or livestock.

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Phil Bicknell

CEO, UK Agri-Tech Centre

Phil Bicknell was appointed CEO of the UK Agri-Tech Centre as it launched in April 2024. He joined CIEL - one of the three companies which merged to create the UK Agri-Tech Centre - in 2021. Prior to the UK Agri-Tech Centre, Phil has had a varied career across food and farming: he led the 50-strong market intelligence team at the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB), equipping farmers and processors with the insight to manage market volatility, profitability and policy change; he was also chief economist at the National Farmers Union (NFU), spearheading the evidence to support a range of lobbying activity. Other roles include specialising in agri-trade issues at the US Department of Agriculture and advising a range of agribusiness clients with Bidwells.  Phil grew up on the family livestock farm has a degree in agricultural economics. 

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Professor Per Ola Kristensson PhD

Professor of Interactive Systems Engineering, University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge

Per Ola Kristensson is a Professor of Interactive Systems Engineering in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is a co-founder and co-director of the Centre for Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence at the University of Cambridge. He is interested in designing intelligent interactive systems that enable people to be more creative, expressive and satisfied in their daily lives. 

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Tom Heap

Television and Radio Reporter,

Tom Heap is a broadcaster, journalist and author. He is a regular on BBC1's Countryfile presenting the current affairs films and co-host of the Radio 4's new environment series and podcast 'Rare Earth'.  

He devised and presented 'The Climate Show with Tom Heap' on Sky News and YouTube. His new book - 'Land Smart' -  has just been published in which he looks at how we can win the race for space on Earth.   

He was the creator of the climate change solutions radio series '39 Ways to Save the Planet' and wrote the accompanying book. Tom spent many years at BBC News becoming both 'Science and Environment Correspondent' and 'Rural Affairs Correspondent'. Outside work he likes to hike, bike, grow chillies, watch movies and bodge carpentry. 

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Jonathan Lane

Managing Director, ADM

Jonathan Lane is the Managing Director of the human, pet and animal nutrition company ADM. He has played a pivotal role in shaping ADM's climate-smart strategy in the UK and is deeply committed to driving innovation in the agri-food sector.

Mr Lane was elected Chair of AIC's Board of Directors at the agri-supply trade association's AGM in October 2024, having previously held the role of Combinable Crops Sector Chair.

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The Rt Hon George Eustice MP

The Rt Hon George Eustice MP served as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) from February 2020 until September 2022. He also served as Minister of State in Defra between 2013 and 2020.  

George was first elected as MP for Camborne, Redruth, and Hayle in 2010. He champions economic regeneration in Cornwall and actively campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union, stating that he wanted to see Ministers and their Civil Servants have the freedom to start thinking policy ideas through from first principles. 

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Chris Guest

AIC Chairman,

As Managing Director of LS Plant Breeding Ltd and Chairman of the AIC Board, Cambridgeshire-based Mr Guest brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience to the role.

Chris studied Rural Land Management at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, before joining Gleadell Agriculture, now ADM Agriculture, in 2008 managing the company's seed operations as Head of Seed.

He is a British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) Board Member, Trustee of East of England Agricultural Society and has previously sat on AHDB Recommended List committees.

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Charlotte Smith

BBC Radio 4 Farming Today,

Charlotte Smith is the presenter of Farming Today.  She was born and brought up in the Leicestershire village of Quorn and has been a radio nerd since her teens, when she started volunteering at BBC Radio Leicester. 

The BBC trained Charlotte on the Local Radio Reporters Scheme, which gave her lots of experience and very bad shorthand.  After stints at BBC’s Sussex, Cumbria and Devon Charlotte ended up back at Radio Leicester as a news reporter, where she learnt a lot…. some of it about journalism. 

Charlotte then worked as a producer on Radio 4’s The World Tonight, as a reporter and sports presenter on BBC TV’s East Midlands Today, and as a producer and reporter and presenter on Five Live (not usually all at the same time).  After reporting for Radio 4’s You and Yours and for daytime TV, conversation in a lift led to me presenting Farming Today on Radio 4 and Countryfile on BBC One. 

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Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation the trade association which represents agri business in the UK. His experience is from a career in agriculture having also held a number of roles within the National Farmers Union before joining the AIC in 2018, as well as working as a land agent and auctioneer in his early career. In this role Robert sits on a number of Government stakeholder groups including the DiT Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, the Defra group on Productivity as well as having overall responsibility for the operation of the AIC.

: https://www.agindustries.org.uk
: robertsheasby
: @Agindustriesuk

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Ed Barker

Head of Policy & External Affairs, AIC

No bio provided

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Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation the trade association which represents agri business in the UK. His experience is from a career in agriculture having also held a number of roles within the National Farmers Union before joining the AIC in 2018, as well as working as a land agent and auctioneer in his early career. In this role Robert sits on a number of Government stakeholder groups including the DiT Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, the Defra group on Productivity as well as having overall responsibility for the operation of the AIC.

: https://www.agindustries.org.uk
: robertsheasby
: @Agindustriesuk

---

Ed Barker

Head of Policy & External Affairs, AIC

No bio provided

---

Minette Batters

President, NFU

Minette runs a tenanted family farm in Wiltshire. The mixed farming business includes a 100-cow continental cross suckler herd, as well as sheep and
arable. Diversification includes the conversion of a 17th Century tithe barn into a wedding and corporate events venue, and horse liveries. Minette co-founded the campaigning initiatives 'Ladies in Beef' and the 'Great British Beef Week'.

Campaigning on behalf of NFU members about the importance of British food and farming has been a key driver for Minette throughout her time at the NFU. In 2020 she led one of the most successful petitions ever, bringing together a coalition of chefs, including Jamie Oliver, farmers, environmentalists, consumer groups and animal welfare experts - resulting in over one million people signing the NFU food standards petition. She has also regularly engaged with different media genres including appearances on Desert Island Discs, Question Time, and Any Questions.

She has been an NFU member from grassroots through to County Chairman; she served as Wiltshire’s Council delegate and also as Regional Board Chairman for the South West. Minette has also been a member of NFU Governance Board and served as NFU deputy president for four years from 2014 to 2018, before being elected as president in February 2018. Minette is also an ambassador of Farm Africa and was made a Deputy Lieutenant to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in 2021.

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Adam White

Head of Agriculture, Barclays Bank

Adam White is the Head of Agriculture for Barclays Business. Responsible for a team of dedicated Agriculture and Landed Estates managers across the UK, who support farming and land based businesses through a range of projects such as diversification, sustainability and growth.

He read at the University of Greenwich, followed by an MBA at the University of Lincoln and Sustainable Finance at the University of Cambridge. Adam is also a Member of the Institute of Agricultural Management. 

He currently serves as a trustee of the East Anglia Agricultural Society supporting with industry engagement and growth for the next generation alongside showcasing UK Agriculture across urban areas and within schools.

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Professor Sir Charles Godfray

Oxford Martin School

Professor Charles Godfray was appointed Director of the Oxford Martin School on 1 February 2018.

He is a population biologist with broad interests in the environmental sciences and has published in fundamental and applied areas of ecology, evolution and epidemiology.

He is interested in how the global food system will need to change and adapt to the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century, and in particular in the concept of sustainable intensification, and the relationship between food production, ecosystem services and biodiversity.

In 2017 he was knighted for services to scientific research and for scientific advice to government.

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Mark Spencer MP

Minister of State, Defra, England,

Mark Spencer was first elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Sherwood in 2010. Mark is also a local farmer and businessman. Mark's family have lived in Sherwood for four generations in Lambley- where he still lives today with his wife and two children.

Born in 1970, Mark went to Lambley Primary School then Colonel Frank Seely School in Calverton. He then studied at Shuttleworth Agricultural College in Bedfordshire, before joining the family farm business which now employs around 50 local people, growing produce which is sold in the farm shop.

Before entering Parliament, Mark was Chairman of the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs as well as a District and County Councillor.

Since becoming a Member of Parliament, Mark has served on several committees including the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. In 2016, the then Prime Minister, Theresa May MP, appointed Mark to the Government Whips Office as an Assistant Government Whip. Mark also held various other posts in the Whips Office including Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury (2017-2018), Vice Chamberlain of HM Household (2018) and Comptroller of HM Household (2018-2019). 

In July 2019, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, appointed Mark to the Cabinet in the post of Government Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. He served in this role until February 2022, when the Prime Minister appointed Mark, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council.

Following the election of Liz Truss as Prime MInister, Mark was appointed as Minister of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Mark still spends his time campaigning for Sherwood, and ensuring that his priorities for the local community are delivered. 

: https://www.markspencer.org.uk

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Mairi Gougeon MSP

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands,

Mairi Gougeon was previously a councillor for Brechin and Edzell, during which she was chairwoman of the East of Scotland European Consortium. 

She is a history graduate from the University of Aberdeen. 

Mairi was elected as the MSP for Angus North and Mearns in May 2016. She was appointed Minister for Public Health and Sport in December 2020. 

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Lesley Griffiths MS

Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd,

Lesley Griffiths has lived and worked in Wrexham all her adult life.  As a strong supporter of devolution for Wales, she played an active role in the 1997 'Yes for Wales' campaign.

She was first elected to the National Assembly for Wales in May 2007 and served on several Assembly Committees. 

She has held a number of Ministerial posts in Welsh Government since December 2009 as Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills, Health and Social Services, Local Government and Government Business, Communities and Tackling Poverty and across a range of Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs portfolios.

Following the Senedd election in May 2021, Lesley was appointed Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd.

Outside of politics, her main hobbies are music, walking and watching Wrexham Football Club.

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Charlotte Smith

BBC Radio 4 Farming Today,

Charlotte Smith is the presenter of Farming Today.  She was born and brought up in the Leicestershire village of Quorn and has been a radio nerd since her teens, when she started volunteering at BBC Radio Leicester. 

The BBC trained Charlotte on the Local Radio Reporters Scheme, which gave her lots of experience and very bad shorthand.  After stints at BBC’s Sussex, Cumbria and Devon Charlotte ended up back at Radio Leicester as a news reporter, where she learnt a lot…. some of it about journalism. 

Charlotte then worked as a producer on Radio 4’s The World Tonight, as a reporter and sports presenter on BBC TV’s East Midlands Today, and as a producer and reporter and presenter on Five Live (not usually all at the same time).  After reporting for Radio 4’s You and Yours and for daytime TV, conversation in a lift led to me presenting Farming Today on Radio 4 and Countryfile on BBC One. 

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Dr Mark Young

Innovation Specialist, CIEL

Mark Young has been with CIEL for almost seven years as Head of Innovation, recently moving to a position as Innovation Specialist. Prior to joining CIEL in 2016, he spent 15 years as senior geneticist for Beef + Lamb New Zealand with the NZ sheep genetic improvement system, SIL. Before that he was a scientist with SRUC in Edinburgh using CT scanning to look at the genetics of body composition and carcass growth in sheep. 

He has spent much of the last 30 years working closely with farmers, and breeders applying genetic selection tools, helping to demystify technology, understanding farmer needs, and translating these for scientists to deliver innovations that are relevant, of value and widely picked up.

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Dr Penny Hundleby FRSB

Senior Scientist, John Innes Centre

Dr Penny Hundleby is a Senior Scientist at the John Innes Centre, a world leading Plant and Microbial Research Institute based on the Norwich Research Park. She is part of a technology platform that supports both UK and International researchers with access to genetic modification (GM) and gene editing (GE) technologies for the main UK crops.  

Penny has worked in the area of genetic technologies for over 28 years and while GM and GE have primarily been used to increase our understanding of how plants work (as enabling technologies) changes to legislation now provide the opportunity to use our scientific knowledge to develop more nutritious, more resilient and sustainable crops for the future.

Penny has been involved in a range of knowledge exchange, outreach and public engagement activities to explain these emerging technologies, engaging with students, farmers, breeders, industry and policy makers.

Penny is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), an Honorary lecturer at the University of East Anglia, Associate Fellow Higher Education (AFHE), Chartered Scientist (CSci) and a Director for the International Society for Plant Molecular Farming (ISPMF).

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Professor John Gilliland OBE

Queens University Belfast,

Recently appointed to the EU’s Soil Mission Board and a special advisor to the UK’s Agriculture Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), John Gilliland, is a willow and livestock farmer from N. Ireland, whose farm has independently been verified to be “Beyond” Net Zero, today. He is also the Professor of Practice in Agriculture and Sustainability at Queens University Belfast; and chair of the innovative, EIP-Agri funded, farmer led, carbon farming project, ARC Zero, www.arczeroni.org.

As an alumni of the US International Visitor Leadership Program, John Gilliland is highly respected and recognised as an excellent leader and communicator across the breadth of the Agri Food and Sustainable Land Management Sectors. This has included presentations to the Joint EU Agriculture & Environment Council, Bratislava, and the Global Summit on Soil Security, Sydney, where he was awarded “Best Paper.”

He has been an award winning farmer in Ireland; President of the Ulster Farmers Union; a Non Executive Director of the Scottish Rural College (SRUC), and an Energy Regulator in N. Ireland; while at the same time, he has been a policy adviser for Devolved, National and European Governments on Biotechnology, Climate Change and Sustainability.

In particular, for seven years, John chaired the UK’s Rural Climate Change Forum, reporting directly to the Secretary of State of DEFRA, London, and supporting the UK at COP15 in Copenhagen. While Director of SRUC in Edinburgh, he helped set up their very successful Carbon Management Centre.

For seven years as Director of Agriculture and Sustainability of the Irish livestock nutrition company, Devenish, John led the development of the their research farm, the Lands at Dowth, transforming it into both a Lighthouse Farm for WUR’s (Wageningen University & Research) Global Network of Lighthouse Farms, and a Living Lab, in a project called Heartland, with five PhD students, in partnership with WUR and UCD, and funded by the EU’s Marie Curie Programme, https://www.heartlandproject.eu/heartland

The Lands at Dowth farm is on course to deliver “Net Zero” Beef and Lamb production by 2025.

Alongside this, John chaired the writing of the N. Ireland Sustainable Land Management Strategy which led to the recent opening of N. Ireland’s Soil Nutrient Health and LiDAR Scheme, which is a World first and an investment of £45m to baseline all fields’ soil, trees and hedges in N. Ireland. https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/soil-nutrient-health-scheme- frequently-asked-questions

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Dr Martin Scholten

Wageningen University & Aarhus University

Dr. Martin C. Th. Scholten (Wageningen University; Aarhus University) is principle scientific advisor in a safe and just green transition towards a biobased society based on natural capital in the Netherlands and Denmark. In 2022 he was awarded as ‘Honorary Fellow’ of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). 

He was member of the Board of Directors of Wageningen University & Research in the period 2008-2020. He is a science-to-policy advisor to the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality for the Netherlands vision “Agriculture, nature and food: valuable and connected”, and served various state advice committees on critical issues related to intensive agriculture. 

Amongst many other roles and positions, he was  the first president of the European public-private livestock innovation platform “Animal Task Force”; co-chair of the Livestock Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. and board member of the  “European Federation of Animal Sciences” (EAAP). 

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Professor John Gilliland OBE

Queens University Belfast,

Recently appointed to the EU’s Soil Mission Board and a special advisor to the UK’s Agriculture Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), John Gilliland, is a willow and livestock farmer from N. Ireland, whose farm has independently been verified to be “Beyond” Net Zero, today. He is also the Professor of Practice in Agriculture and Sustainability at Queens University Belfast; and chair of the innovative, EIP-Agri funded, farmer led, carbon farming project, ARC Zero, www.arczeroni.org.

As an alumni of the US International Visitor Leadership Program, John Gilliland is highly respected and recognised as an excellent leader and communicator across the breadth of the Agri Food and Sustainable Land Management Sectors. This has included presentations to the Joint EU Agriculture & Environment Council, Bratislava, and the Global Summit on Soil Security, Sydney, where he was awarded “Best Paper.”

He has been an award winning farmer in Ireland; President of the Ulster Farmers Union; a Non Executive Director of the Scottish Rural College (SRUC), and an Energy Regulator in N. Ireland; while at the same time, he has been a policy adviser for Devolved, National and European Governments on Biotechnology, Climate Change and Sustainability.

In particular, for seven years, John chaired the UK’s Rural Climate Change Forum, reporting directly to the Secretary of State of DEFRA, London, and supporting the UK at COP15 in Copenhagen. While Director of SRUC in Edinburgh, he helped set up their very successful Carbon Management Centre.

For seven years as Director of Agriculture and Sustainability of the Irish livestock nutrition company, Devenish, John led the development of the their research farm, the Lands at Dowth, transforming it into both a Lighthouse Farm for WUR’s (Wageningen University & Research) Global Network of Lighthouse Farms, and a Living Lab, in a project called Heartland, with five PhD students, in partnership with WUR and UCD, and funded by the EU’s Marie Curie Programme, https://www.heartlandproject.eu/heartland

The Lands at Dowth farm is on course to deliver “Net Zero” Beef and Lamb production by 2025.

Alongside this, John chaired the writing of the N. Ireland Sustainable Land Management Strategy which led to the recent opening of N. Ireland’s Soil Nutrient Health and LiDAR Scheme, which is a World first and an investment of £45m to baseline all fields’ soil, trees and hedges in N. Ireland. https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/soil-nutrient-health-scheme- frequently-asked-questions

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Dr Martin Scholten

Wageningen University & Aarhus University

Dr. Martin C. Th. Scholten (Wageningen University; Aarhus University) is principle scientific advisor in a safe and just green transition towards a biobased society based on natural capital in the Netherlands and Denmark. In 2022 he was awarded as ‘Honorary Fellow’ of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). 

He was member of the Board of Directors of Wageningen University & Research in the period 2008-2020. He is a science-to-policy advisor to the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality for the Netherlands vision “Agriculture, nature and food: valuable and connected”, and served various state advice committees on critical issues related to intensive agriculture. 

Amongst many other roles and positions, he was  the first president of the European public-private livestock innovation platform “Animal Task Force”; co-chair of the Livestock Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. and board member of the  “European Federation of Animal Sciences” (EAAP). 

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Charlotte Smith

BBC Radio 4 Farming Today,

Charlotte Smith is the presenter of Farming Today.  She was born and brought up in the Leicestershire village of Quorn and has been a radio nerd since her teens, when she started volunteering at BBC Radio Leicester. 

The BBC trained Charlotte on the Local Radio Reporters Scheme, which gave her lots of experience and very bad shorthand.  After stints at BBC’s Sussex, Cumbria and Devon Charlotte ended up back at Radio Leicester as a news reporter, where she learnt a lot…. some of it about journalism. 

Charlotte then worked as a producer on Radio 4’s The World Tonight, as a reporter and sports presenter on BBC TV’s East Midlands Today, and as a producer and reporter and presenter on Five Live (not usually all at the same time).  After reporting for Radio 4’s You and Yours and for daytime TV, conversation in a lift led to me presenting Farming Today on Radio 4 and Countryfile on BBC One. 

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Chris Guest

AIC Chairman,

As Managing Director of LS Plant Breeding Ltd and Chairman of the AIC Board, Cambridgeshire-based Mr Guest brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience to the role.

Chris studied Rural Land Management at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, before joining Gleadell Agriculture, now ADM Agriculture, in 2008 managing the company's seed operations as Head of Seed.

He is a British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) Board Member, Trustee of East of England Agricultural Society and has previously sat on AHDB Recommended List committees.

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Bill Young

CEO, Addington Fund

About the Addington Fund 

We exist to support you when you need help the most. What we do is unique. By providing housing, and disaster relief in the form of animal feed or services to farmers in need across England and Wales, we stand by your side and help you get back on your feet. 

Chief Executive – Bill Young

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Chris Guest

AIC Chairman,

As Managing Director of LS Plant Breeding Ltd and Chairman of the AIC Board, Cambridgeshire-based Mr Guest brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience to the role.

Chris studied Rural Land Management at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, before joining Gleadell Agriculture, now ADM Agriculture, in 2008 managing the company's seed operations as Head of Seed.

He is a British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) Board Member, Trustee of East of England Agricultural Society and has previously sat on AHDB Recommended List committees.

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Anna Hill

Conference Chairman, AIC

Anna has worked for BBC Radio for 36 years and has been presenting Farming Today since 1995. 

She joined the BBC full time in 1986 at BBC Radio Sussex in Brighton. After becoming News Editor and then breakfast Editor at BBC Radio Surrey, Anna moved to BBC Radio Four in 1992 as a continuity announcer, reading Shipping Forecasts, running the Radio 4 schedule, and presenting the news. 

Anna combined her on-air skills with her journalism and joined Farming Today on BBC Radio 4 as Presenter, which she continues today. She has covered many major stories in that time including BSE, Foot and Mouth, Bovine TB,  and has travelled to the Falklands, South America, South Africa and much of Europe to report on farming stories. 

As part of a small team at Farming Today, Anna helps to decide what goes into the programme; travels around the country interviewing politicians, scientists and farmers; edits her own interviews and writes the scripts.  

From 2016-2020 Anna was also a Director at the Oxford Farming Conference, holding various Secretaries of State to account over government policy. 

Over the last 20 or so years Anna’s taken care to try to present complex countryside issues to all listeners (about 1 million every week) – even if they know nothing about farming at all. She hopes her best skill is listening and tries to make Farming Today informative, entertaining and accessible. 

She lives in Norfolk and spends as much spare time as possible trying to keep up with her friends, racing kayaks on rivers throughout the East of England. 

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Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation the trade association which represents agri business in the UK. His experience is from a career in agriculture having also held a number of roles within the National Farmers Union before joining the AIC in 2018, as well as working as a land agent and auctioneer in his early career. In this role Robert sits on a number of Government stakeholder groups including the DiT Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, the Defra group on Productivity as well as having overall responsibility for the operation of the AIC.

: https://www.agindustries.org.uk
: robertsheasby
: @Agindustriesuk

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Allan Wilkinson

Head of Agrifoods, HSBC UK Bank plc

Allan Wilkinson is a dairy farmer’s son from a tenanted farm in North Yorkshire. A graduate in Agriculture from Aberystwyth University, he commenced working for the Milk Marketing Board’s Farm Management Services in Leicestershire, he then joined the Midland Bank’s Agriculture team in1988 becoming HSBC’s Head of Agriculture in 2010.  

He is currently Head of Agrifoods at HSBC UK, a role he has held for the past 7 years covering food chains and systems from farm to fork. He sits on a number of industry bodies including the Food and Drink Sector Council’s Exporter’s Forum, and its Agriculture Productivity Task Force, as well as the University of Exeter’s Impact of Covid on the UK food chain. He is  a Trustee of the Prince’s Countryside Fund, a Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Farmers and a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies. Allan is married to Michelle, they have two grown up children, and they live in East Yorkshire 

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Gavin Hodgson

Director of Agriculture, Horticulture & Aquaculture, Sainsbury's

Gavin has over 20 years agricultural experience, with the last six working with Sainsbury's in processing and retail. His highly topical talk will tackle the impact of the cost of living crisis on managing the agri-food supply chain.

Gavin started out as a Farm Manager at various pig, mixed and poultry farms throughout the UK & Northern Ireland. Then, he lectured in Agriculture for three years before moving into the commercial world, holding a variety of roles at Dunbia.

Gavin joined Sainsbury’s Agriculture Team in 2014. Six years later, he became Buying Manager in the Meat, Fish & Poultry. This year, Gavin was appointed Director of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Horticulture. He now oversees a team of 17, focused on supply chain resilience and sustainability, security of supply and innovation.

Gavin is passionate about efficient, profitable and sustainable supply chains and takes a science-based approach, underpinned by key insights from data.

 

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Tom Bradshaw

President, NFU

Tom Bradshaw, the President of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, farms in partnership with his wife, Emily, and his parents in North Essex.  Alongside a small family owned farm, they run a contract farming business growing a range of combinable crops.  

Tom was Chair of the National Crops Board before becoming part of the Presidential team in 2020 and being elected President in 2024.  Tom was successfully re-elected as President for the next two-year term at the NFU Conference on 25 February 2026. 

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Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation the trade association which represents agri business in the UK. His experience is from a career in agriculture having also held a number of roles within the National Farmers Union before joining the AIC in 2018, as well as working as a land agent and auctioneer in his early career. In this role Robert sits on a number of Government stakeholder groups including the DiT Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, the Defra group on Productivity as well as having overall responsibility for the operation of the AIC.

: https://www.agindustries.org.uk
: robertsheasby
: @Agindustriesuk

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Gavin Hodgson

Director of Agriculture, Horticulture & Aquaculture, Sainsbury's

Gavin has over 20 years agricultural experience, with the last six working with Sainsbury's in processing and retail. His highly topical talk will tackle the impact of the cost of living crisis on managing the agri-food supply chain.

Gavin started out as a Farm Manager at various pig, mixed and poultry farms throughout the UK & Northern Ireland. Then, he lectured in Agriculture for three years before moving into the commercial world, holding a variety of roles at Dunbia.

Gavin joined Sainsbury’s Agriculture Team in 2014. Six years later, he became Buying Manager in the Meat, Fish & Poultry. This year, Gavin was appointed Director of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Horticulture. He now oversees a team of 17, focused on supply chain resilience and sustainability, security of supply and innovation.

Gavin is passionate about efficient, profitable and sustainable supply chains and takes a science-based approach, underpinned by key insights from data.

 

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Allan Wilkinson

Head of Agrifoods, HSBC UK Bank plc

Allan Wilkinson is a dairy farmer’s son from a tenanted farm in North Yorkshire. A graduate in Agriculture from Aberystwyth University, he commenced working for the Milk Marketing Board’s Farm Management Services in Leicestershire, he then joined the Midland Bank’s Agriculture team in1988 becoming HSBC’s Head of Agriculture in 2010.  

He is currently Head of Agrifoods at HSBC UK, a role he has held for the past 7 years covering food chains and systems from farm to fork. He sits on a number of industry bodies including the Food and Drink Sector Council’s Exporter’s Forum, and its Agriculture Productivity Task Force, as well as the University of Exeter’s Impact of Covid on the UK food chain. He is  a Trustee of the Prince’s Countryside Fund, a Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Farmers and a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies. Allan is married to Michelle, they have two grown up children, and they live in East Yorkshire 

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Tom Bradshaw

President, NFU

Tom Bradshaw, the President of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, farms in partnership with his wife, Emily, and his parents in North Essex.  Alongside a small family owned farm, they run a contract farming business growing a range of combinable crops.  

Tom was Chair of the National Crops Board before becoming part of the Presidential team in 2020 and being elected President in 2024.  Tom was successfully re-elected as President for the next two-year term at the NFU Conference on 25 February 2026. 

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Anna Hill

Conference Chairman, AIC

Anna has worked for BBC Radio for 36 years and has been presenting Farming Today since 1995. 

She joined the BBC full time in 1986 at BBC Radio Sussex in Brighton. After becoming News Editor and then breakfast Editor at BBC Radio Surrey, Anna moved to BBC Radio Four in 1992 as a continuity announcer, reading Shipping Forecasts, running the Radio 4 schedule, and presenting the news. 

Anna combined her on-air skills with her journalism and joined Farming Today on BBC Radio 4 as Presenter, which she continues today. She has covered many major stories in that time including BSE, Foot and Mouth, Bovine TB,  and has travelled to the Falklands, South America, South Africa and much of Europe to report on farming stories. 

As part of a small team at Farming Today, Anna helps to decide what goes into the programme; travels around the country interviewing politicians, scientists and farmers; edits her own interviews and writes the scripts.  

From 2016-2020 Anna was also a Director at the Oxford Farming Conference, holding various Secretaries of State to account over government policy. 

Over the last 20 or so years Anna’s taken care to try to present complex countryside issues to all listeners (about 1 million every week) – even if they know nothing about farming at all. She hopes her best skill is listening and tries to make Farming Today informative, entertaining and accessible. 

She lives in Norfolk and spends as much spare time as possible trying to keep up with her friends, racing kayaks on rivers throughout the East of England. 

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Mark Spencer MP

Minister of State, Defra, England,

Mark Spencer was first elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Sherwood in 2010. Mark is also a local farmer and businessman. Mark's family have lived in Sherwood for four generations in Lambley- where he still lives today with his wife and two children.

Born in 1970, Mark went to Lambley Primary School then Colonel Frank Seely School in Calverton. He then studied at Shuttleworth Agricultural College in Bedfordshire, before joining the family farm business which now employs around 50 local people, growing produce which is sold in the farm shop.

Before entering Parliament, Mark was Chairman of the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs as well as a District and County Councillor.

Since becoming a Member of Parliament, Mark has served on several committees including the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. In 2016, the then Prime Minister, Theresa May MP, appointed Mark to the Government Whips Office as an Assistant Government Whip. Mark also held various other posts in the Whips Office including Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury (2017-2018), Vice Chamberlain of HM Household (2018) and Comptroller of HM Household (2018-2019). 

In July 2019, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, appointed Mark to the Cabinet in the post of Government Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. He served in this role until February 2022, when the Prime Minister appointed Mark, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council.

Following the election of Liz Truss as Prime MInister, Mark was appointed as Minister of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Mark still spends his time campaigning for Sherwood, and ensuring that his priorities for the local community are delivered. 

: https://www.markspencer.org.uk

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Mairi Gougeon MSP

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands,

Mairi Gougeon was previously a councillor for Brechin and Edzell, during which she was chairwoman of the East of Scotland European Consortium. 

She is a history graduate from the University of Aberdeen. 

Mairi was elected as the MSP for Angus North and Mearns in May 2016. She was appointed Minister for Public Health and Sport in December 2020. 

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Lesley Griffiths MS

Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd,

Lesley Griffiths has lived and worked in Wrexham all her adult life.  As a strong supporter of devolution for Wales, she played an active role in the 1997 'Yes for Wales' campaign.

She was first elected to the National Assembly for Wales in May 2007 and served on several Assembly Committees. 

She has held a number of Ministerial posts in Welsh Government since December 2009 as Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills, Health and Social Services, Local Government and Government Business, Communities and Tackling Poverty and across a range of Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs portfolios.

Following the Senedd election in May 2021, Lesley was appointed Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd.

Outside of politics, her main hobbies are music, walking and watching Wrexham Football Club.

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Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation the trade association which represents agri business in the UK. His experience is from a career in agriculture having also held a number of roles within the National Farmers Union before joining the AIC in 2018, as well as working as a land agent and auctioneer in his early career. In this role Robert sits on a number of Government stakeholder groups including the DiT Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, the Defra group on Productivity as well as having overall responsibility for the operation of the AIC.

: https://www.agindustries.org.uk
: robertsheasby
: @Agindustriesuk

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Mark Spencer MP

Minister of State, Defra, England,

Mark Spencer was first elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Sherwood in 2010. Mark is also a local farmer and businessman. Mark's family have lived in Sherwood for four generations in Lambley- where he still lives today with his wife and two children.

Born in 1970, Mark went to Lambley Primary School then Colonel Frank Seely School in Calverton. He then studied at Shuttleworth Agricultural College in Bedfordshire, before joining the family farm business which now employs around 50 local people, growing produce which is sold in the farm shop.

Before entering Parliament, Mark was Chairman of the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs as well as a District and County Councillor.

Since becoming a Member of Parliament, Mark has served on several committees including the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. In 2016, the then Prime Minister, Theresa May MP, appointed Mark to the Government Whips Office as an Assistant Government Whip. Mark also held various other posts in the Whips Office including Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury (2017-2018), Vice Chamberlain of HM Household (2018) and Comptroller of HM Household (2018-2019). 

In July 2019, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, appointed Mark to the Cabinet in the post of Government Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. He served in this role until February 2022, when the Prime Minister appointed Mark, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council.

Following the election of Liz Truss as Prime MInister, Mark was appointed as Minister of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Mark still spends his time campaigning for Sherwood, and ensuring that his priorities for the local community are delivered. 

: https://www.markspencer.org.uk

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Anna Hill

Conference Chairman, AIC

Anna has worked for BBC Radio for 36 years and has been presenting Farming Today since 1995. 

She joined the BBC full time in 1986 at BBC Radio Sussex in Brighton. After becoming News Editor and then breakfast Editor at BBC Radio Surrey, Anna moved to BBC Radio Four in 1992 as a continuity announcer, reading Shipping Forecasts, running the Radio 4 schedule, and presenting the news. 

Anna combined her on-air skills with her journalism and joined Farming Today on BBC Radio 4 as Presenter, which she continues today. She has covered many major stories in that time including BSE, Foot and Mouth, Bovine TB,  and has travelled to the Falklands, South America, South Africa and much of Europe to report on farming stories. 

As part of a small team at Farming Today, Anna helps to decide what goes into the programme; travels around the country interviewing politicians, scientists and farmers; edits her own interviews and writes the scripts.  

From 2016-2020 Anna was also a Director at the Oxford Farming Conference, holding various Secretaries of State to account over government policy. 

Over the last 20 or so years Anna’s taken care to try to present complex countryside issues to all listeners (about 1 million every week) – even if they know nothing about farming at all. She hopes her best skill is listening and tries to make Farming Today informative, entertaining and accessible. 

She lives in Norfolk and spends as much spare time as possible trying to keep up with her friends, racing kayaks on rivers throughout the East of England. 

---

Anna Hill

Conference Chairman, AIC

Anna has worked for BBC Radio for 36 years and has been presenting Farming Today since 1995. 

She joined the BBC full time in 1986 at BBC Radio Sussex in Brighton. After becoming News Editor and then breakfast Editor at BBC Radio Surrey, Anna moved to BBC Radio Four in 1992 as a continuity announcer, reading Shipping Forecasts, running the Radio 4 schedule, and presenting the news. 

Anna combined her on-air skills with her journalism and joined Farming Today on BBC Radio 4 as Presenter, which she continues today. She has covered many major stories in that time including BSE, Foot and Mouth, Bovine TB,  and has travelled to the Falklands, South America, South Africa and much of Europe to report on farming stories. 

As part of a small team at Farming Today, Anna helps to decide what goes into the programme; travels around the country interviewing politicians, scientists and farmers; edits her own interviews and writes the scripts.  

From 2016-2020 Anna was also a Director at the Oxford Farming Conference, holding various Secretaries of State to account over government policy. 

Over the last 20 or so years Anna’s taken care to try to present complex countryside issues to all listeners (about 1 million every week) – even if they know nothing about farming at all. She hopes her best skill is listening and tries to make Farming Today informative, entertaining and accessible. 

She lives in Norfolk and spends as much spare time as possible trying to keep up with her friends, racing kayaks on rivers throughout the East of England. 

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Judith Evans

Consumer Industries Correspondent, Financial Times

Judith Evans is the consumer industries correspondent for the Financial Times, covering companies producing food, drink, and home and personal care products, along with the UK farming sector. She previously wrote about property and investment for the FT and worked for newswires in the UK and Asia.

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Brent Babb

Regional Director Europe & Middle East/North Africa, USSEC 

Brent serves as Regional Director - Europe & Middle East/North Africa at the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.  Current responsibilities include leadership of USSEC’s Europe & MENA region in building preference for U.S. soy working closely with U.S. farmers, USDA-FAS, the U.S. export industry and soy buyers. Brent led development of the U.S. Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP) outlining the national conservation programs utilized by U.S. soy farmers.  Brent holds a Master’s Degree in Marketing from Webster University. 

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Brent Babb

Regional Director Europe & Middle East/North Africa, USSEC 

Brent serves as Regional Director - Europe & Middle East/North Africa at the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.  Current responsibilities include leadership of USSEC’s Europe & MENA region in building preference for U.S. soy working closely with U.S. farmers, USDA-FAS, the U.S. export industry and soy buyers. Brent led development of the U.S. Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP) outlining the national conservation programs utilized by U.S. soy farmers.  Brent holds a Master’s Degree in Marketing from Webster University. 

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Anna Hill

Conference Chairman, AIC

Anna has worked for BBC Radio for 36 years and has been presenting Farming Today since 1995. 

She joined the BBC full time in 1986 at BBC Radio Sussex in Brighton. After becoming News Editor and then breakfast Editor at BBC Radio Surrey, Anna moved to BBC Radio Four in 1992 as a continuity announcer, reading Shipping Forecasts, running the Radio 4 schedule, and presenting the news. 

Anna combined her on-air skills with her journalism and joined Farming Today on BBC Radio 4 as Presenter, which she continues today. She has covered many major stories in that time including BSE, Foot and Mouth, Bovine TB,  and has travelled to the Falklands, South America, South Africa and much of Europe to report on farming stories. 

As part of a small team at Farming Today, Anna helps to decide what goes into the programme; travels around the country interviewing politicians, scientists and farmers; edits her own interviews and writes the scripts.  

From 2016-2020 Anna was also a Director at the Oxford Farming Conference, holding various Secretaries of State to account over government policy. 

Over the last 20 or so years Anna’s taken care to try to present complex countryside issues to all listeners (about 1 million every week) – even if they know nothing about farming at all. She hopes her best skill is listening and tries to make Farming Today informative, entertaining and accessible. 

She lives in Norfolk and spends as much spare time as possible trying to keep up with her friends, racing kayaks on rivers throughout the East of England. 

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Judith Evans

Consumer Industries Correspondent, Financial Times

Judith Evans is the consumer industries correspondent for the Financial Times, covering companies producing food, drink, and home and personal care products, along with the UK farming sector. She previously wrote about property and investment for the FT and worked for newswires in the UK and Asia.

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Anna Hill

Conference Chairman, AIC

Anna has worked for BBC Radio for 36 years and has been presenting Farming Today since 1995. 

She joined the BBC full time in 1986 at BBC Radio Sussex in Brighton. After becoming News Editor and then breakfast Editor at BBC Radio Surrey, Anna moved to BBC Radio Four in 1992 as a continuity announcer, reading Shipping Forecasts, running the Radio 4 schedule, and presenting the news. 

Anna combined her on-air skills with her journalism and joined Farming Today on BBC Radio 4 as Presenter, which she continues today. She has covered many major stories in that time including BSE, Foot and Mouth, Bovine TB,  and has travelled to the Falklands, South America, South Africa and much of Europe to report on farming stories. 

As part of a small team at Farming Today, Anna helps to decide what goes into the programme; travels around the country interviewing politicians, scientists and farmers; edits her own interviews and writes the scripts.  

From 2016-2020 Anna was also a Director at the Oxford Farming Conference, holding various Secretaries of State to account over government policy. 

Over the last 20 or so years Anna’s taken care to try to present complex countryside issues to all listeners (about 1 million every week) – even if they know nothing about farming at all. She hopes her best skill is listening and tries to make Farming Today informative, entertaining and accessible. 

She lives in Norfolk and spends as much spare time as possible trying to keep up with her friends, racing kayaks on rivers throughout the East of England. 

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