Setting the AgriBusiness Agenda

David Caffall,
Chief Executive, Agricultural Industries Confederation

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen and thank you Tom for your introduction. I must
say its really great to see such a wonderful turnout today.
Amazingly, this is the tenth AIC conference. Our first event took place at Cranfield in
November 2003.
Unsurprisingly barely 30 Members were prepared to invest the 650 that Cranfield
charged as organisers. I remember little of the agricultural content of that first gathering,
although Mark Aitchisons leading us in a Maori-style HAKA is emblazoned in my memory!
Nine years ago, the AIC conference team lead by John Kelley organised our first
Agribusiness event. From that time on, we have adopted a sensible pricing policy and the
result is that in the intervening years, well over 2,000 delegates have come to
Peterborough to hear almost 100 speakers.
And in a way, that epitomises the AIC ethos delivering value for money to our Members
and providing the service and knowledge each of you require to support a modern,
sustainable, commercial agriculture.
This year saw AIC complete its first decade. I will return to that theme, but nostalgia and
looking to the past never has been, and never will be what AIC is about. It is the future
which is of paramount importance.
So what is the foundation on which we can set the Agribusiness agenda today?
We have built a reputation as an established and trusted trade association whose views
and opinions are actively sought both by the devolved governments and in Brussels.
We have a reputation both in our own right; and through the coalitions we have formed
for specific purposes, such as the Campaign for the Farmed Environment which enables
us to make a real and practical difference; both for the good of our Members, but also for
the broader benefit of the agricultural industry as a whole.
Let me give you one illustration

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This, ladies and gentlemen was the Defra view on UK agricultures advisory landscape
just over a year ago. Can you spot where you fit in?
Now, if like me, when you first saw this slide, your gaze went straight to the centre
youd be equally wrong.
Perhaps then youre equally appalled by the fact that you are there, but squeezed in
right down at the bottom.

Through our Value of Advice Project we were able to demonstrate, with independent
academic review, the concept of the Ring of Confidence that showed that trusted,
professional advisers are not merely peripheral, but actually are central to the transfer of
knowledge to farmers as well as being able to deliver on policy requirements.

Farmers have a Ring of

Confidence
Peer reviewed
by:

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Our analysis unveiled earlier this year in the House of Commons with ministers from both
Defra and Bis has helped transform how Government views the importance of the
agricultural supply sector. It has opened the door to new engagement with Defra in
trusted partnerships, rather than the arms length airing of old prejudices.
And we already have the first fruits of that success. Defra now recognises that the people
best placed, best able and best-qualified to advise livestock producers on feeding regimes
are the on-farm advisers of the feed industry.
Thats why we launched the Feed Adviser Register in the Summer, and why Im delighted
to announce that shortly we expect to record the 1000th registration on FAR.

With FAR we delivered the right solution at the right time and that is what we
constantly seek to do. Scanning the horizons of policy and technology with a view to
ensuring our Members and their interests are best-served.
This year we move on to a new project that has arisen by an increasing awareness that
despite the mantra of sustainable intensification and the progress made by the research
community, our industrys ability to meet Owen Patersons call for more home-produced
food is being restrained . some would say throttled by over-zealous regulation.
That is why the AIC Board has approved a project, with the working title of threats and
opportunities to food production which, working with a coalition of others, aims to
highlight these issues.
What do we seek from it? Simple!
A more holistic approach to regulation across this country and across Europe.
Our belief, which early desk studies is confirming, is that the ability of agriculture to
innovate and increase output is as hampered by single issue policy makers as it is by single
issue pressure groups.
Let me illustrate this compounding effect with a simple example involving winter wheat
production, although I could equally paint a similar picture for livestock.

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Here is a list of issues which if we lose the battle, could impact winter wheat production
over the next 1-5 years:-

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Now, none of these issues are new indeed we and like-minded partners have been
defending them for some time.
But take a step back, and look at the

effect of these.
Typically, UK grows 15 Million tonnes of winter wheat annually. Some pundits are calling
for 20 million tonnes through intensification.

The first chart superimposes the factors I listed a moment ago.

And heres the really scary one. Production doesnt head from 15 Million towards 20 it
plunges below 10maybe even as low as 8 Million tonnes.
We can understand the effects upon our production end of the food chain, but how would
you react if you are a bioethanol producer, a miller, a baker or you make anything from
Ale to Yorkshire Pudding, or Bagels to Weetabix.
We have a simple question to pose to policy-makers in UK and the EU
How on earth can you use the word Intensification against this backdrop?

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So what are we asking for? or better said what will YOUR trade association be fighting
for?
1.

Realisation that returning to a risk-based analysis rather than a hazard-based one,

would allow us to continue to safely use many of these tools.

2.

A Pragmatic and evidence-based approach to derogations in respect of ground,

surface and drinking water.

3.

Recognition of the huge implications of the damage about to be done not only to
agricultural production, but to Britains biggest industrial sector the food and
drink producers, who cannot afford to lose vital ingredients.

Our message is two-fold, but stark and simple:Firstly.

Allow us to keep essential tools for which science has demonstrated safety
and efficacy.

Secondly.
Remove the roadblocks to developing new techniques and new tools.
Roadblocks which hamper environmental sustainability just as much as
production.
Let me leave this dark and depressing subject with a glimmer of hope

To summariseWe CAN produce the food the country needs and will continue to
need.
We CAN do it in a responsible and sustainable manner.
On the subject of sustainability, I hope that my colleague, Jane Salter, wont be too
offended if I were to say that a decade ago her environmental remit in addition to her
fertiliser duties was a nice to have, but not core to the overall aims of AIC. Today this

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portfolio fully occupies both Jane and Corrina Gibbs, and candidly they are hanging on by
their fingertips to cope with the plethora of new issues.
Thats why today, the broad environmental policy arena is one of the key elements of
AICs functions, and it impacts across the issues faced by every sector. For instance, the
Greenhouse Gas Action Plan which aims to reduce emissions from UK agriculture is as
central to the fertiliser sector as the feed sector. As I said earlier the message to policy
makers is clear. Work with us and together we can deliver solutions.
I said I would return to our ten year milestone. Let me do so now.
On your tables are 2 new documents that we have produced. They are in part a look back
over the decade and a reminder of some of the strategic achievements. But I would like
you to turn to the back cover of the AIC corporate one (as opposed to the square AIC
services one); because I always believe a picture tells a thousand words.
In the top row is an early meeting with then plain Don Curry (now Lord Curry).
Those of you who can remember back to the initial concept of AIC, will remember that
one of the drivers for our founding fathers, was the fact that the Curry Commission did
not have any representatives at all from the agricultural supply industries.
Thus getting Don to Peterborough at an early stage was a key objective and we achieved
it.
But it was only a start of a journey ever upward in our engagement with the key policy
makers and politicians. We have continually raised our profile in Westminster and the
devolved governments as these pictures show.
We have dealt at face-to-face level with every Secretary of State and Minister of
Agriculture that has held post in Defra in the past ten years.
In Northern Ireland in conjunction with NIGTA and through AIC Scotland we have achieved
a similar status thanks to the concerted efforts of your policy team, supported
enthusiastically by Members In those countries.
Our Value of Advice Project took us beyond Defra and one of our speakers at the House of
Commons Launch was BISs Minister David Willetts.
More recently, we have striven to increase our reach into Europe. We recognise we need
to have input at the earliest stages of regulation. Typically members of staff spend several
days a month in Brussels engaging both with like-minded trade associations, but also with
key members of the Commission and the European Parliament. For example, Paul Rooke,
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our Head of Policy for Governmental Affairs is the current President of CELCAA, which is a
key link into the Commission for Trade policy.
So, the journey that began with a desire to engage with an influential Northumberland
farmer has reached the cabinet of Commissioner Ciolos in Brussels and the dining room of
Prime Minister David Cameron at Number 10.
It is a journey of which I; the founding fathers; the Board. Our working groups and all our
staff are very proud. Not for bragging rights or name dropping, but because this
engagement has raised for the first time awareness of the agricultural supply industry
as a vital precursor of the food chain that starts even before the field to fork clich
begins.
And the journey continues. As I said earlier, I personally have little interest in the past
however, glorious, which is why I will leave you to look at our strategic achievements at
your leisure, while I focus on the way ahead.
We have five key objectives going forward. These are, effectively, our manifesto for the
next few years.
Let me quickly run through them and why they matter.

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Ladies and gentlemen, these are the overarching objectives moving forward. As ever, it
will be achieved by the teamyour Team to whom I must pay tribute for unstinting
devotion to your cause at the same time as dealing with the array of every day tactical
issues, which typically number more than 100 at any given time.
It is my privilege to lead this team on behalf of you, the membership. It is a challenge that
I never cease to relish.
At the heart of all we do, we recognise one key matter. AIC is a voluntary membership
organisation.
We realise we have to make a difference to your business by adding value. We have
quantified that for the past decade.
I am certain we will continue to deliver that added value as we move forward.
Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the conference.

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