Registrations are open for the 2025 FAR Conference: Show me the money. The event is being held at Lincoln University, Monday 30 June and Tuesday 1 July.
Profitability is an increasing concern for arable farmers and that’s why it’s the theme of our 2025 Conference, “Show me the money”. The conference, which is being held at Lincoln University, will run for a day and a half (30 June - 1 July), and comprise four sessions and a conference dinner.
Guests and keynote speakers include UK arable farmer Olly “Blogs” Harrison, Professor Nicola Randall (Harper Adams University), James Venning from Barunga Grains in South Australia and, of course, New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, arable’s very own Hamish Marr. The conference dinner will also double as a farewell to CEO Alison Stewart, who steps down at the end of June.
Day one Monday 30 June
Session 1 Reducing costs
Session 2 Increasing yield/productivity
Dinner
Day 2 Tuesday 1 July
Session 3 Diversification and investment
Session 4 Future tools and technologies
Conference organiser Anna Heslop says that as always, prices for the event have been pared back to the absolute minimum, with early bird pricing sitting at $220 for two day attendance. Early bird registrations close on 14 May, at which stage the price goes up to $320.
Meet the speakers
Olly “Blogs” Harrison
UK arable farmer and entrepreneur Olly Harrison left school at 16 having struggled with dyslexia. Since then, he has grown his farm from 70 hectares to 600 hectares. His farming business has 14 different income streams including dog walking fields, chipping wood for biomass, sunflower mazes, office and holiday rentals. He’s always seeking new ways to commercially exploit his land and assets. He promised himself that by the age of 40 he’d own a brand new combine harvester, and having achieved that he then decided to drive his Claas Lexion combine from John O’Groats to Land’s End, all in the name of charity!
You may have come across Olly on his popular YouTube channel @OllyBlogsAgricontractfarmer. The daily videos, which he started in lockdown, provide a glimpse into the real-world challenges and triumphs of farming, marked by a touch of humour and diversification tales to fund his machinery and tractor addiction! Olly will be outlining his farming journey via video link.
Professor Nicola Randall
Professor Nicola Randall is the founding director of the Centre for Evidence Based Agriculture at Harper Adams University in England. Her main research interests relate to agricultural ecology and sustainable food production and the use of scientific evidence/evidence synthesis in order to support and underpin policy and management decision making.
The Centre for Evidence Based Agriculture is a reviewing, training and co-ordinating hub for the collation and synthesis of agri-food evidence, and part of the UK Collaboration for Environmental Evidence Centre. Professor Randall will appear via video link to discuss the evidence around the impacts of regenerative farming interventions.
James Venning
James Venning is a grain grower from the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. Farming over varying soil types, he uses a wide range of technologies to aid in decision making and to micromanage areas in his cropping programme focussing on productivity, efficiency and cost effectiveness.
In 2022 he was a finalist in the Australian Young Farmer of the Year award and also received the award for Excellence in Technology. As well as the day to day running of Barunga Grains, James chairs his local grower group Northern Sustainable Soils, is a board member of the Hart Field Site Group and is a grower director of Grain Producers South Australia.