THE importance of the cereals sector to the UK economy has come under the spotlight at the arable industry’s annual flagship event.

The two-day Cereals 2009 event, which started yesterday at Royston near Cambridge, was used as a platform by NFU president Peter Kendall to challenge Defra to adopt an ‘industrial activism’ approach to the sector.

Promoting competitiveness and tackling over-regulation are vital to help arable farmers meet the demands of increasing food production while dealing with environmental issues such as water shortages, extreme weather conditions and increasing demand for renewable energy, he said.

Cereal farmers produced record yields last year of 24 million tonnes of grain, including a record 17 million tonnes of wheat which was an increase of more than 30% on 2007. Their produce was worth £3.18bn to the UK economy.

The industry exports almost 30 million tonnes of grain annually.

Meanwhile, arable farmers are being urged to look at the small print in their grain contracts in order to prevent future problems and the need for arbitration.

Recent market volatility has led to conflicts over prices and delivery, according to the NFU’s combinable crops board chairman Ian Backhouse.

He said: “Most contracts contain some changes from the standard versions, so it is important that farmers take full advantage of all the information they have available to them and put it into practice. Before agreeing a sale, you should refer to the HGCA cereal sellers’ checklist and use the NFU cereals contract to compare terms to the standard AIC grain or FOSFA oilseed contracts.

“You also need to be very clear on what the final delivery terms are. Some contracts state exactly where grain and oilseed is going when it leaves the farm and exactly what specification you have agreed to provide. Others offer more flexibility and sometimes a better price but the risk involved is not always made clear.”