ANM Group, the leading farming co-operative based at Thainstone, will host a top bill of agricultural industry specialists at its upcoming ANM Beyond 150 Conference on 15 July.

The ANM Beyond 150 Conference, being held in partnership with Farm North East, will be chaired by Farm North East Editor Eddie Gillanders, with contributions from:

• George Burgess, Director of Agriculture and Rural Economy at the Scottish Government
• Professor Jude Capper, ABP Chair, Professor of Sustainable Beef and Sheep systems at Harper Adams University (Shropshire, UK), and independent Livestock Sustainability Consultant
• Steven Thomson, Senior Agricultural Economist, Rural Economy, Environment And Society at SRUC
• Jim Walker, former President of NFU Scotland, former Chairman of Quality Meat Scotland, Co-Owner and Managing Director of Argent Energy leading up to the sale in 2018 and recently appointed Chief Executive of Scot Bio

In addition to the panellists’ contributions, all attendees will be invited to share their ideas on the steps which must be taken to secure a prosperous future for the Scottish livestock sector – with a legacy paper presenting solutions forming a major output from the conference. ANM Group will present the paper to the Scottish Government and parliamentarians after the event.

The event is open to the whole agricultural community, with all proceeds from the ticket sales going to ANM Group’s nominated charities for its 150th anniversary year – the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH), Charlie’s House, and Abbie’s Sparkle Foundation.

Grant Rogerson, Chief Executive of ANM Group said:

“I am delighted to announce this stellar line-up of speakers for the ANM Beyond 150 Conference. Their expertise on the issues facing agriculture in Scotland is unparalleled, and as a co-operative organisation we are eager to bring the community together to represent the views of the industry from the farmers and business owners themselves.

“In addition to the contributions from our panellists, this one-off event will provide a forum for members, customers and key industry stakeholders to share their ideas as to how our industry can build a prosperous future and safeguard our precious environment for generations to come. All of these valuable insights will feed into a legacy paper which we will present to decision-makers after the event.

“I encourage anybody who has an interest in these important themes to join us on 15 July, and to feed in their views.”

The ANM Beyond 150 Conference will be held at Thainstone Exchange on Friday 15 July. Tickets cost £10 and are available to purchase at the main office at Thainstone Centre and via Eventbrite.