Cereals 2024 will welcome farmers in June to new site in Hertfordshire

Cereals 2024 early bird tickets are now on sale, taking place on 11th and 12th June at its new location of Bygrave Woods, Newnham Farm in Hertfordshire.

Hosted by Alex Farr and his cousin Edward Wainright Lee, Cereals 2024 will be held on the Farr family’s 45-ha outdoor event space.  

Mr Farr said: “We love welcoming people to Bygrave Woods – it’s great to be the host farm for Cereals after attending it over the years. 

“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 2024 will showcase the latest developments in arable agronomy, machinery, technology, and business advice. The event will host over 450 exhibitors, 200+ live demonstrations, two days of seminar programmes, and several hundred individual crop plots on display. 

Topics on stage at Cereals 2024

The Seed to Shelf stage, which is a fresh take on the Cereals main stage, is new to the event this year.

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.  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. 

Working demonstrations 

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.  

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. Impressive robotic and automation demonstrations by AgXeed and Autonomous Agri Solutions (with drone technology) will also be in action.

Visitors will have the opportunity to get in the driving seat and experience all the capabilities of Isuzu’s latest vehicles.

Popular event

Alli McEntyre, event director at Cereals, said that exhibitor numbers are already 15% up, year-on-year, with exhibitors bringing a wealth of practical and technical expertise to Cereals 2024. 

She added: “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.” 

Where is Cereals 2024?

The arable operation at Newnham Farm, Hertfordshire 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 has also introduced companion and cover cropping into their strategies and takes 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 additionally 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. The farm uses 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 the farm’s success are the people, remaining a family affair with Mr Farr’s father and uncle, Nick and Tim, supporting them alongside the wider family and staff.  

Mr Wainwright Lee said: “We all have our particular areas of knowledge and interest, which helps with a diversified business. But we’re also a good team, and when it gets busy, we all pull together.” 

Register for Cereals 2024 tickets or find out more about Cereals Show 2024.

Find more farming events in our online calendar.