Progressive farmers and agronomists from across the UK headed to the sixth CropTec Show in Peterborough last week seeking the latest technical and business solutions to improve the profitability of their businesses.
Over 4000 visitors attended the two-day event on 28th and 29th November at the East of England Showground, which hosted more than 170 exhibitors providing a highly informative blend of cutting-edge technology, the latest crop science as well as a range of products and services.
The CropTec Show’s renowned and extensively researched seminar programme also proved popular, with standing room only in some of the sessions, as did the knowledge hubs, which provided quick-fire updates on a range of topical technical issues.
Stephen Howe, CropTec development director, said: “UK farmers are managing long-term businesses and, by definition, that requires understanding what the future may have in store and finding ways to adapt to change.
“This year’s CropTec Show has again shown there’s no better place to discover some of the answers to those questions, whether they were about the future of farm support; business expansion or contraction; the role of environmental schemes; machinery investment; or the future of our crop protection armoury.”
CropTec’s status was reflected in the number of continuing professional development points on offer (six each day) and the impressive list of companies participating in the BASIS and NRoSO knowledge trails.
The CropTec seminars and knowledge hubs featured over 30 of the sector’s leading experts. The seminars covered four of the most important areas underpinning profitability – crop protection, crop nutrition, crop breeding and crop establishment.
New for this year was the crop establishment panel session, which feature interactive debate with four expert growers on their approach to soil management to create the best conditions for their crops.
Two new knowledge hubs featured, one providing the latest advice on problem wheat and barley diseases and another on spray application technology. Blackgrass, biosolutions and oilseed rape establishment hubs also drew good audiences throughout the event.
The well-established sprayer demonstrations also proved popular, with the six machines on show making plenty of trips to the demonstration area.
