Welcome and Conference Chairs
Tim Isaac
PARTNER, CERES RURAL & CEO, CERES RESEARCH
Tim achieved a first-class degree in agricultural business management at Wye College before starting his career as a farm consultant. He subsequently gained a diploma in rural surveying and qualified as an agricultural valuer. He went on to become the east region surveyor for the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), advising and representing members on all aspects of land and farm business management, before joining the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) as its regional manager. He pioneered the Monitor Farm programme in East Anglia and took on responsibility for managing the national arable team.
Tim was then appointed director of knowledge exchange, with responsibility for the network of strategic farms, monitor farms, discussion groups and technical events in all sectors across the UK and was awarded Fellowship of the Institute of Agricultural Management.
Tim has chaired a number of farming organisations and events, sits on various industry committees and has previously been the president of Essex Agricultural Valuers Association. He leads on the free business advice Ceres Rural offers through the Future Farming Resilience Fund and specialises in project management, strategic business reviews and sustainability, having completed the BASIS Principles of Sustainable Land Management and Soil and Water Management courses. He has recently led the launch of Ceres Research, a new business focused on delivering data-driven solutions for the agri-food sector. He lives on a small farm with a large family and keeps fit by setting himself physical challenges and trying to keep up with his children’s various sporting activities.
Daniel Kindred
AGRONOMIC SCIENTIST
Daniel grew up on an arable farm, studied agriculture at the University of Nottingham and obtained a PhD in agronomy from the University of Reading. He worked as a crop physiologist for ADAS for 18 years, working to understand yield and the nutrient requirements of arable crops, developing expertise in nitrogen responses, biofuels, crop greenhouse gas emissions, sensing technologies and precision farming. Daniel is proud to have been involved in the initiation of the YEN in 2012 and in the development of agronomics and FarmPEP approaches to on-farm research and knowledge exchange. In 2023, Daniel joined Anglo American Crop Nutrients as a crop scientist, helping to understand, innovate and improve nutrient performance. From 2025, Daniel is looking to support on-farm research in understanding what works on-farm, through experimentation, evidence and exchange.
Mark Tucker
MARKETING AND AGRONOMY MANAGER, YARA EUROPE
Following achieving a degree in agricultural botany at the University of Reading in 1989, Mark worked as a commercial agronomist in the agricultural supply industry, advising farmers on both plant protection and crop nutrition for ten years. After this, he spent two years as an independent agronomist for Aubourn Farming in Norfolk. In 2002, Mark joined Yara UK as its company agronomist, directing the agronomic policies, as well as research and development, and interacting with the marketing function. In 2011, he received the Nuffield Farming Frank Arden Leadership Award for his report titled Fertilisers for the Future: A Nitrogen Perspective. In 2012, he became the chief agronomist for Yara North and East Europe, which has given him experience with other crops, including soybean, and precision farming developments in agricultural environments from Russia and Ukraine to the Baltics, Finland and the Nordic region. In September 2015, he returned to Yara UK and is currently the marketing and agronomy manager for Yara Europe .
Tom Allen-Stevens
FOUNDER & CREATOR, BOFIN
Tom Allen-Stevens is an arable farmer and founder of the British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN). He is an award-winning journalist with 25 years’ experience in communicating to an arable farming audience and collaborating with farmers on field trials. He has focused on conveying technical innovations, especially in plant-breeding, to a more progressive farming audience, including early adopters. He is a former director and chair of Oxford Farming Conference, with a family farm in Oxfordshire.
BOFIN is a network of 3500 members, representing farmers who carry out on-farm trials and are looking for a more scientific approach to progressing farm practice. The network consists of 500+ farmers, alongside scientists, knowledge exchange managers, tech innovators and a large community of citizen scientists. BOFIN has a number of projects under way, including NCS (pulses), SLIMERS (slugs), TRUTH (soil/root health) and PROBITY (gene-editing). www.bofin.org.uk
Torkild Birkmose
SENIOR SPECIALIST AND LEADER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL MANURE MANAGEMENT, SEGES INNOVATION
Torkild is an agronomist leading the department of animal manure management at SEGES Innovation in Aarhus, Denmark. He has been working on the utilisation of animal manure as an energy resource in biogas plants and for fertilisation in plant production for almost 30 years. He has conducted hundreds of field trials in different crops, and based on the results, has developed optimal strategies for utilising manure for farmers and advisers.
Andrew Williamson
FARMER, BEDDOES & WILLIAMSON
Andrew farms in Shropshire, where he is the managing partner of the family farming partnership. He returned home to join the partnership in 1999 after completing a degree in chemistry at the University of Bristol and working on farms in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. He farms 900 acres of combinable crops and all the land he manages is covered by environmental schemes. He is a keen advocate of on-farm trials, having carried out numerous trials over the last 15 years. He is also involved in a joint venture machinery sharing agreement.
Sarah Kendall
DR SARAH KENDALL, CROP PHYSIOLOGIST, ADAS
Sarah has worked at ADAS as a crop physiologist for 12 years, after completing her PhD at the University of York. She grew up on an arable farm in East Yorkshire and now lives on a mixed farm in Nottinghamshire. Sarah has a keen interest in understanding factors affecting cereal and oilseed rape yields and how this understanding can be used by growers to make improvements. She is keen to support growers in optimising their crop nutrition strategies through improved measurements and is currently leading the Horizon Europe project NUTRI-CHECK.
Ian Holmes
FARM TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, STRAWSON LTD
Ian is farm technical director for Strawson Ltd, a Nottinghamshire-based family farming company growing carrots, parsnips, potatoes and a range of arable crops. Having joined Strawson Ltd in 2013 as company agronomist, he has had responsibility for agronomy input across the range of crops the company produces and now leads the agronomy team, contract farming arrangements and technical strategy, both internally and with customers. Prior to joining Strawsons, Ian worked for eight years for Syngenta as area manager and field technical manager after graduating with a first-class honours degree in agriculture and crop protection from Harper Adams University.
Cereal Session
Sarah Clarke
DR SARAH CLARKE, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, CROP PHYSIOLOGY, ADAS
Sarah has been a crop physiologist at ADAS since 2008 and now co-leads the group. Her practical farming background means she is keen to improve the physiological understanding, agronomy and sustainable productivity of crops for growers and the agricultural supply chain. She has particular interests in grain quality and oats physiology and agronomy.
Roger Sylvester-Bradley
PROFESSOR ROGER SYLVESTER-BRADLEY, HEAD OF CROP PERFORMANCE, ADAS
Having studied crops since the 1970s, Roger insists there has never been a more exciting time to be a crop scientist, so he refuses to retire! He believes we need to act urgently to enhance crop yields globally, so is delighted with the continuing support for the YEN and the emergence of other farm action research initiatives.
Andrew Clune
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER – NITROGEN SOLUTIONS, BASF
Andrew has been with BASF for nearly ten years, first as an agronomy manager in the south of England and latterly as a business development manager focusing on nitrogen management solutions. Andrew has been involved with farming and agronomy his entire working life, both in the UK and in Australia. He studied agricultural science in agronomy at the University of Sydney, then worked as an agricultural adviser in rural New South Wales, followed by a move to the south-west of England working as an agronomist in Dorset and Wiltshire, before joining BASF.
Oilseed Session
Nigel Padbury
SEEDS MARKETING MANAGER, PREMIUM CROPS
An Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC) Seeds Committee member and chair of the British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) Minor Crops Group, Nigel is currently responsible for variety acquisition, testing and seed production for Premium Crops, as well as leading the company’s marketing department, a role that he has performed for over 12 years. Prior to joining Technology Crops (now Premium Crops), he graduated from Aberystwyth University with a degree in agricultural botany and joined Twyford Seeds to become oilseed rape breeder and subsequently product manager for oilseeds and pulses at CPB Twyford. After launching Novartis Seeds’ ‘NK’ brand for oilseeds and maize and acting as site head for the sugar beet production site at Docking, he spent 15 years as a portfolio manager for Syngenta Seeds’ oilseed and maize products, ultimately becoming responsible for those products across the territory of north-west Europe.
Duncan Coston
SENIOR CONSULTANT , ADAS
Duncan has worked on agricultural entomology for over ten years, having worked extensively on ecosystem service provision, from pollinators and natural enemy pest control to the impact and risks posed by arable pests. His PhD was based at Rothamsted Research and the University of Reading and focused on how to manage autumn pest pressure in oilseed rape, with a focus on integrated pest management (IPM) and a deeper understanding of the biology of the cabbage stem flea beetle in a post-neonicotinoid growing system.
Having joined ADAS in 2021, he has continued his work on the cabbage stem flea beetle and wider integrated pest management. Duncan’s main research interest and focus is on pest–crop interactions: how the pest interacts with the crop and how the crop responds to pest pressure.
Nick Anderson
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, VELCOURT
Nick worked as an agronomist in East Anglia for a number of years before taking a role as crop consultant to Black Earth Farming, a 200,000 ha farming business in Russia, in 2014, where he focused on optimising cultivation, nitrogen use and crop protection. In 2017, Nick joined Velcourt to focus upon its international consultancy business. Since 2020, Nick’s primary brief has been Velcourt’s crop production strategy across 56,000 ha of arable crops in the UK, but he is also responsible for Velcourt’s trials department and independent agronomy business..
David Passmore
MIXED FARMER, OXFORDSHIRE
David manages the family farming partnership near Wallingford, Oxfordshire, on the northern edge of the Chilterns. The 300-ha farm rotation on shallow, flinty grade 3 soils over chalk is of livestock (sheep and cattle) fully integrated into the arable rotation with three year leys. Crops grown include winter wheat, spring barley (undersown), winter oats, oilseed rape and peas: most crops for early generation seed production. The farm regularly achieves wheat yields of over 14 t/ha and the three-year rolling YEN oilseed rape average of over 6 t/ha. David read at agriculture at the University of Reading.
Sarah Hawthorne
HEAD OF MARKET AND SALES – AGRICULTURE,
DSV
Sarah has been working with oilseed rape for over 15 years. She has been with the plant breeder DSV UK for 12 years and works with a range of crop species, including oilseed rape, wheat, barley, maize and lupins. She has a degree in agriculture and food from Harper Adams University in Shropshire and lives on an arable farm in Nottinghamshire.
Pulse Session
Charlotte White
DR CHARLOTTE WHITE, SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST, CROP PHYSIOLOGY, ADAS
Charlotte is a crop physiologist at ADAS, based in Nottinghamshire. Charlotte’s particular interests include plant root systems, crop water use, legumes, cover crops and the impact of these on soil and crop performance. Charlotte joined ADAS in 2011, after gaining her PhD from the University of Nottingham in the water use efficiency of tomatoes. Charlotte has achieved the BASIS soil and water management certificate and is convener of the Association of Applied Biologists Soil and Root Biology Group.
Thomas Wilkinson
DR THOMAS WILKINSON, SENIOR CROP RESEARCH CONSULTANT, ADAS
Tom is a crop physiology research consultant at ADAS, based in Nottinghamshire. Tom has worked on break crops such as oilseed rape, field beans and combining peas at ADAS for five years. Before this, he gained his PhD investigating the symbiotic interactions between soil-fungi and plants, focusing on nutrient delivery and pest tolerance. Tom is a technical lead for the Pulse and Oilseed YENs, which aim to understand how best to optimise crop performance. Tom also works on understanding the wider benefits that legumes can bring through the Nitrogen Climate Smart and LegumES projects, such as through nitrogen provision to the rotation and other ecosystem services.
Richard Budd
DIRECTOR, STEVENS FARM
Richard is a director of Stevens Farm, which is a 1400 hectare arable and top fruit farm based on the Kent–Sussex border. Before rejoining the family farming business, Richard gained a degree in botany at the University of Nottingham and then worked in the fine wine trade in London for nine years. Since Richard returned to the farm, he and his father have set out to expand their arable operation from the originally owned 125 hectares to today’s 1400 hectares. The farm has been direct drilling for the past ten years and utilising YEN for the past eight years to gain a more in-depth knowledge of crop performance and to improve the farm’s average yields.
Roger Vickers
CHIEF EXECUTIVE, PROCESSORS AND GROWERS RESEARCH ORGANISATION
With a predominantly commercial background, Roger spent the majority of his career in various sectors of the seed and seed enhancement industries until, at the end of 2012, taking up the post of CEO at the Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO). The PGRO is uniquely focused upon conducting independent applied crop research. Its ultimate objectives are knowledge exchange and dissemination for the benefit of growers and industry and the improvement of pulse and vegetable legume production in the UK.
Todd Jex
AGRONOMIST & TECHNICAL ADVISER FOR REGENERATIVE FARMING, AGRII
Todd graduated from Harper Adams in 2011 with a BSc (Hons) degree in agriculture with crop management. He also holds the BASIS diploma in agronomy and Harper Adams University graduate diploma in agronomy. He has worked as an agronomist in southern England since graduating, covering a large acreage of predominantly combinable and forage crops. Within Agrii, he is the national technical adviser for regenerative farming. He coordinates trials locally with a particular focus on soil health and crop nutrition, also using his bees to observe interaction between broad-leaved crops and pollinators. He was the winner of the Farmers Weekly Awards Arable Advisor of the year 2023 and National Arable and Grassland Awards Young Agronomist of the year 2024.
Sustainability Session
Toby Rapson
CLIMATE AND SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTANT, ADAS
Toby joined ADAS in April 2024 as a consultant within the climate and sustainability team. Prior to joining ADAS, Toby completed MSc in soil science from the University of Aberdeen. During his master’s, Toby concentrated on expanding his knowledge within sustainable agriculture techniques, nutrient management within soils and carbon sequestration. Since joining ADAS, he has taken over the management of YEN Zero and works on net zero and water stewardship projects.
Christina Baxter
SENIOR RESEARCH CONSULTANT, ADAS
Christina joined the crop physiology team at ADAS in 2017 after completing a PhD at the University of Reading, investigating improving rooting at depth in wheat through introgression of land races. Christina’s role at ADAS predominantly focuses on improving crop root systems to better capture water and nutrient resources through both genetic and management approaches. Additional areas of research include calculating greenhouse gas emissions associated with crop production, with the aim of working with growers and the wider industry to reduce the environmental impact of cropping while sustaining or improving yields.
Andrew Clune
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER – NITROGEN SOLUTIONS, BASF
Andrew has been with BASF for nearly ten years, first as an agronomy manager in the south of England and latterly as a business development manager focusing on nitrogen management solutions. Andrew has been involved with farming and agronomy his entire working life, both in the UK and in Australia. He studied agricultural science in agronomy at the University of Sydney, then worked as an agricultural adviser in rural New South Wales, followed by a move to the south-west of England working as an agronomist in Dorset and Wiltshire, before joining BASF.
David Booty
HEAD OF RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, OMEX AGRICULTURE LTD
David is Head of research and development at OMEX, where he has worked for 15 years. David is an agronomist and researcher with over 40 years’ professional experience in the fertiliser and crop protection sectors. His particular interest is in sustainable fertiliser use with low carbon and recovered raw ingredients, new technology, precision application and inhibitors to reduce on-farm losses, backed up by thorough scientific research.
Colin Chappell
ARABLE FARMER AND PARTNER AT CHAPPELL FARMS
Fourth generation arable farmer Colin Chappell farms 645 hectares in the Ancholme Valley near Brigg, North Lincolnshire. Having studied agriculture at Harper Adams, he then worked in Australia before heading home. Nominated to become an Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) monitor farmer between 2017 and 2020, he credits knowledge exchange between farmers and others as broadening his perspective on the direction of travel for his business. He has become passionate about soil health and his farm’s carbon footprint. He has been part of YEN Zero for four years in an attempt to find the final few pieces he needs to get to net zero.