The Cereals Event 2024 will welcome visitors to its new site at Bygrave Woods, Newnham Farm in Hertfordshire on 11-12 June, alongside its brand-new co-hosted event DirectDriller@Cereals – and early bird tickets for both are now on sale.

Hosted by Alex Farr and his cousin Edward Wainright Lee, both events will be held on the Farr family’s 45-ha outdoor event space – one of the 900-ha arable farm’s diversifications, complete with established trackways and amenities. Its 10 years as a large event venue means it is well-placed to host the 20,000+ visitors the events are set to attract.

“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.”

As ever, Cereals will showcase the latest developments in arable agronomy, machinery, technology and business advice; with over 450 exhibitors, 200+ live demonstrations, two days of seminar programmes, and several hundred individual crop plots on display.

New to 2024 is the co-located event – DirectDriller@Cereals. Co-hosted by Cereals and Direct Driller Magazine, its theme is ‘Regenerating farm profit’, and it will focus on how regenerative agriculture can make large-scale arable farms more commercially successful. It will comprise a full conference programme including seminars curated by BASE UK, and a schedule of demonstrations – which are soon to be announced.

Being co-located, DirectDriller@Cereals offers visitors convenience and combined ticketing options, giving them access to a much wider range of farming focuses. “Cereals wanted to cover regenerative agriculture in much more detail, given the impact of the sustainable farming incentive,” says Clive Bailye, arable farmer and publisher of Direct Driller magazine. “Direct Driller magazine and BASE UK are able to bring together topics, speakers, and demonstrations that will help large-scale arable farmers to implement these ideas in a way that will directly impact their farm profit.”

Also new to 2024 is the Seed to Shelf stage – a fresh take on the Cereals main stage. The KWS-sponsored stage will trace the arable supply chain from seed to retail, offering attendees valuable insights from plant breeders, agronomists, farm contractors and farmers, through to grain marketers, processors, retail brands and retailers. Ever well-attended, 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. The Ceres Rural-curated winter wheat and barley feature will also return, offering a spread of popular winter wheats; groups one to four, and a collection of two-row and six-row malting barley varieties. The plots offer a unique opportunity to see a selection of leading Recommended List (RL) varieties side-by-side, with experts on-hand to guide and advise across both days.

From top to bottom, the 20m-long NIAB Soil Hole will return, giving visitors a unique insight into cultivation effects and crop growth below ground. Also focusing on matters underground will be the NAAC Drainage exhibition and demonstration area, offering an opportunity to meet exhibitors from this important sector.

Back above ground, 2024 brings with it an expansion of demonstration areas. The Syngenta Sprays and Sprayers Arena, Drill Demos and NAAC Demo arena will undoubtedly draw crowds – showcasing the latest precision technology, innovations in land preparation, establishment, and crop protection. But that’s not all; visitors will be able to check out more working demonstrations by the likes of Agriweld, Case IH, Maschio Gaspardo, Hardi, Merlo, New Holland, and SDF. Not forgetting the impressive robotic and automation demonstrations by AgXeed and Autonomous Agri Solutions, with drone technology also in action. And back by popular demand is the Isuzu Off-road Driving Experience; a purpose-built off-road course for visitors to get in the driving seat and experience all the capabilities of Isuzu’s latest vehicles.

Exhibitor numbers are already 15% up, year-on-year, with exhibitors bringing a wealth of practical and technical expertise, says Ms 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.”

Box: About this year’s host farm

Newnham Farm represents elements of modern farm businesses up and down the country. The arable operation grows around 480ha of winter wheat, 130ha of oilseed rape, 120ha of sugar beet, and 10ha of sunflowers. Incorporated into the rotation, and across the wider farm, are around 60ha of GS4 species-rich mixes as well as wild bird seed and wildflower mixes, under the sustainable farming incentive and mid-tier countryside stewardship scheme. The family have also introduced companion and cover cropping into their strategies, and take pride in maintaining the farm’s woodland.

The farm’s diversification started with the event space – Bygrave Woods – but has since continued to grow. Today the farm also has a 380,000-broiler unit comprising 10 sheds, plus four woodchip boilers, and a portfolio of residential and commercial lettings. The diversified nature of the farm’s business is also helping it to develop more circular models, for example, using manure from the poultry unit on the wheat crop, with any that does not make milling grade fed back to the poultry.

At the core of farm’s success is the people – remaining a family affair with Mr Farr’s father and uncle, Nick and Tim, supporting them alongside the wider family and staff. “We all have our particular areas of knowledge and interest, which helps with a diversified business,” says Mr Wainwright Lee. “But we’re also a good team, and when it gets busy we all pull together.”

• To register for tickets and find out more about the event – including the co-hosted DirectDriller@Cereals event – visit www.cerealsevent.co.uk
• Cereals Event ticket holders have access to all areas and demonstrations, except the DirectDriller@Cereals Conference Theatre, which is ticketed separately and includes all-day hospitality, food, and parking.