Congress Report: Two Champions of Crop Production

This year’s BCPC Congress, Harrogate, was the chosen venue for presenting the BCPC Award to two individuals for their outstanding contribution to the crop production sector.

L-R: Jim Orson, Hazel Doonan, Sarah Cowlrick, Julian Westaway

The BCPC Advisory Board had no hesitation in agreeing to present this year’s award to Sarah Cowlrick of the Association of Independent Crop Consultants and Hazel Doonan of the Agricultural Industries Confederation.

In presenting the awards, BCPC Advisory Board Member Jim Orson commented “both recipients, in different organisations, are at the very centre of training and support for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) within the sector, carefully and brilliantly ensuring that farmers receive informed advice on managing their crops. Not only do they do that, but they also give of their time to support other industry initiatives.”

Sarah Cowlrick, Association of Independent Crop Consultants (AICC) CEO

Sarah has been active throughout her career in promoting the role of independent agronomy in successful and sustainable crop production. Its annual AICC Conference is a regular in many agronomists’ calendar and is just one of the many initiatives to share valuable knowledge and expertise. Furthermore, Sarah has been active in bringing new recruits into the sector though the establishment of the AICC Academy.

Hazel Doonan, Head of Crop Protection and Agronomy, Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC)

Hazel is responsible for the management and coordination of the Crop Protection and Agronomy Sector for the AIC, an industry body she has been with for almost two decades.
Previous to her AIC role, she worked in the crop protection industry for 18 years as a BASIS-qualified agronomist and was also responsible for managing a regional agrochemical department with a national distributor.

BCPC Awards are presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in one or more of the areas of scientific advance, technology innovation, advisory and extension, education and training and regulatory affairs.

BCPC CONGRESS PRESENTATIONS

Day 1

• We all demand sustainable foods, but do they always provide sustainable nutrition?
  Prof Ian Givens (University of Reading)
• Role of the Global Food Security Index and innovation in agriculture
  Dr John Wiles (Corteva Agriscience)
• Agriculture’s trilemma: An exciting opportunity for UK agriculture
  Dr Séan Rickard (Séan Rickard Ltd)

Stream A

• Regulatory updates from Chemicals Regulation Division, HSE
  Dr Chris Snaith and team (HSE CRD)
• Industry perspective on state of affairs of UK PPP regulation in 2023
  Dave Bench (CropLife UK)
• Data decision tree for identifying potential risks for natural substances when used in plant protection
  Dr Lara Ramaekers (Biobest Group and IBMA Natural Substances Professional Group)
• Biopesticides eco-tox risk assessment
  Nicola Dennis (TSG Consulting)

Stream B

• Potential for alternative products to control disease in agriculture
  Dr Neil Havis (Scotland’s Rural College, SRUC)
• Biopesticides for disease and insect pest management
  Dr Dave Chandler (University of Warwick)
• The integration of mechanical weeding into broad-acre cropping
  Will Smith (NIAB)
• Adopting new approaches to crop protection
  Ian Matts (Brixworth Farming, BCPC Advisory Board)

Day 2

• 30% protected land by 2030. Will there be enough area to maintain UK food security?
  Geoff Sansome (Natural England)
• Shared on-farm data to aid crop management decisions
  Poul Hovesen (Catalyst Farming, N Norfolk)
• Pesticides in drinking water: issues and options for mitigation in the UK
  Richard Reynolds (Anglian Water Services)
• Potential for reducing pesticide use: Lessons from networks of demo farms
  Dr Nicolas Munier-Jolain (INRAE)
• Recent developments and future drivers in the crop protection market
  Derek Oliphant (AgbioInvestor)

CRD workshop

• CRD workshop on biopesticides