Upcoming Arable Event looks like being a huge success

The feedback from those who attended or exhibited at last year's inaugural event was extremely positive and there are currently around 40 agricultural businesses involved for this year.

There will be significant interest in the speakers' tent, with high-profile names including the National Farmers' Union president Meurig Raymond, and Mark Berrisford-Smith, who is the head of economics for HSBC UK Commercial Banking presenting.

These sessions will take place around midday and they are both sure to be insightful and interesting.

There will also be plenty to view in the plots this year.

There are some very interesting new varieties for 2015 autumn sowing and the event will be a useful opportunity to see these being grown locally.

Reflection, KWS Lili, and Costello are the exciting new wheats to look at and there are several new hybrid and conventional winter barley varieties well worth considering.

We also have plots of the hybrid rye varieties. This is a crop that produces a huge biomass, similar to forage maize, and is of real interest to AD plants as well as those who grow and feed wholecrop.

There is also a wide range of spring-sown plots to see this year including spring cereals, peas, beans, lupins, wholecrop mixtures and also a good selection of catch and cover crops which comply with the new Ecological Focus Area under the Greening regulations. Syngenta will also be presenting their inputs trials.

Around 600 visitors attended the Arable Event last year and numbers are expected to exceed that figure this time round.

It is seen by many as an alternative to the Cereals Event in the western region and while it is on a much smaller scale, the technical information available on the day is very valuable.

The event is free to attend and farmers of all types are welcome.

Further information is available at www.thearableevent.co.uk

* Richard Torr is seed sales manager at Wynnstay