SUTTON-IN-CRAVEN farmer David Airey will address the region’s first Northern Uplands Conference.

It has been organised by the National Farmers' Union and EBLEX - the organisation for English beef and lamb industry - against the backdrop of shrinking budgets of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

It will take place at the Coniston Hotel, Coniston Cold, on Thursday, February 5.

CAP changes will affect direct payments and agri-environment programmes, leaving hill farmers with some stark choices to make in the coming months. Many will have to increase grassland productivity

Mr Airey will tell the conference how his business is changing in response to his son returning to the farm. Having spent many years focusing on environmental management, the pair are now developing a new strategy with a view to increasing stock levels.

Grassland improvements are fundamental to the success of this approach.

NFU regional uplands adviser Laurie Norris said: “Despite the government’s recognition of the importance of the hill farming sector to the country’s unique stratified livestock industry and the wider rural economy, the impact of changes to agri-environment programmes in particular looks set to hit the industry hard.

“It is in response to this that the Uplands Conference was conceived to focus on the challenge ahead and provide an opportunity to debate possible strategies for optimising farming in the hills while still delivering on the environment.”

There will also be a section devoted to business planning to help farmers ensure their plans are robust and financially viable.

“While other sectors, such as the dairy industry, have been compelled to embrace new technologies and techniques to help drive down costs, the livestock sector and particularly upland livestock businesses have been slower see the potential benefits,” added Mr Norris.

“This is something we want to encourage and we hope to follow this conference with further events exploring other key areas such as genetics and breeding."

Clive Brown, EBLEX head of regional development, said: “We are happy to work with the NFU to deliver this conference focusing on upland farming.

“We recognise the increasing challenges of farming in the uplands and our aim is to help farmers optimise the performance of their business. The main technical focus is managing grassland performance and utilisation whilst maximising environmental benefits in the uplands.”

The conference will from 1.30pm to 7pm, with supper provided, and to book a free place, call the EBLEX events office on 01904 771211 or email brpevents@eblex.ahdb.org.uk