“Agriculture is a global business,” said Aidan Connolly. “If you want to understand agriculture, go get yourself a passport.”

Connolly was speaking at the Nuffield contemporary scholars’ conference at the Cavan Crystal Hotel on Wednesday. He believes there are only a few issues that stand in the way of allowing farmers to produce enough food to feed 9bn people by 2050.

Food is the exciting business of the future. Take that opportunity and embrace it

“The first is just making sure farmers are allowed to produce the food that they can. That may seem extraordinary to you but in a lot of the world there are a lot of restrictions,” Connolly told the crowd of scholars from around the world. He calculates that we only need to increase productivity by 1.7% per year to meet demand.

He uses the acronym GLIMPSE to capture all the barriers that stand in the way of food production.

GLIMPSE

Government, Losses, Infrastructure that is needed to get food from farm to people, Markets, Science and Environment

“If you mention global warming at a conference in the US you are likely to lose half your audience and the other half is likely to shoot you,” said Connolly. “The fact is that in farming we are very aware of how climate affects yield of crops and our ability to produce protein from animals in different parts of the world.”

According to Connolly, farmers will increasingly be expected to produce higher quality and safer food. But will the consumer be willing to pay more for it?

“The conclusion I have had is that this is not going to be an option,” he said. “You are going to be expected to produce food for the same amount of money and the expectation is that it’s safe. These are not going to be the ways of differentiation or competitiveness.

“Sugar is the latest buzz word in healthy eating, and many are concerned about over-consumption. In the US the consumption of fizzy drinks has dropped by 25% in the last five years.

“This year for the first time ever bottled water will become the number one bottled beverage sale in America,” said Connolly. “It is astonishing to see how quickly this debate has changed and we haven’t got into the middle of it yet.”

He also believes we’re going to see a lot more interaction between farmers and the public through social media.

Three reasons to use social media in agriculture:

1. Diminish the stereotype.

2. Education is everything to those who wish to learn.

3. Connect with your peers.

Connolly’s vision for the future of farming is vastly different to what we know today.

“I believe farming will involve a tremendous amount of data capture and farmers will be harvesting data as much as anything else,” he said. “In terms of vertical farming, people are already building two- to three-storey farms underground in London. It is becoming a reality. Meat consumption in the future is primarily going to be poultry. Almost 60% future meat consumption is going to be in Asia, the rest of us are only going to make up the numbers. I would advise you to spend a week in China. In my opinion that is going to be the future of food.

“Food is the exciting business of the future. Take that opportunity and embrace it.”