This was a key message from the 2026 Norfolk Farming Conference, which brought 400 farmers, landowners and rural professionals to the Norfolk Showground his week.

The event, organised by the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association (RNAA), discussed industry challenges ranging from geopolitical instability and climate change to the continued financial uncertainty over the government's sustainable farming incentives - introduced in place of EU-era direct payment subsidies which previously supported farm businesses.

David Webster, chief executive of LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming), was a keynote speaker at the 2026 Norfolk Farming Conference (Image: Sonya Duncan)

Keynote speaker David Webster, chief executive of Leaf (Linking Environment and Farming), said government policy and market demands meant environmental outcomes are "no longer a choice for farming."

"Engagement is no longer optional - but leadership is," he said.

"It is leadership from progressive and forward-looking farming business that will determine whether society's environmental expectations on farmers become a burden imposed from the outside, or an opportunity shaped from within our sector, for the good of our sector.

"The real risk is disengagement. If progressive farming businesses do not step forward to shape how environmental outcomes are delivered - practically, proportionately, and in ways that work on the ground - others will do it for them. History tells us that externally imposed solutions are rarely the ones that work best within complex farming systems. That is why leadership from within the sector matters so much.

"We are at a moment of real profound choice. Not a choice between tradition and change, but between the path of passive adaption or proactive ownership.

"The land will always reflect the decisions made upon it. If we invest in soils, skills, data, relationships and public trust, that investment will compound over time. If we disengage, others will step in."

The 2026 Norfolk Farming Conference at the Norfolk Showground (Image: Sonya Duncan)

Mr Webster also paid tribute to the late Norfolk farmer and journalist David Richardson, a "uniquely influential voice" who co-founded LEAF in 1991 and chaired its trustee board for ten years "at a time when sustainability was still on the fringes of agricultural debate".

The organisation now works with nearly 10,000 farming businesses globally, operating its LEAF Marque sustainability certification scheme in 55 countries.

Mr Webster said the future of farming will be "shaped not by ideology, but by practical action, collaboration and a willingness to engage honestly with change".

Jeremy Moody of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) speaking at the 2026 Norfolk Farming Conference (Image: Sonya Duncan)

Those thoughts were echoed by Jeremy Moody, secretary and adviser to the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), who said farmers face the choice between "positive action or passive decay".

He said recent government policies, ending a generation of reliance on direct payment subsidies and farm inheritance tax relief, had contributed to an evolving business landscape with threats from climate change and pollical volatility, but also opportunities from new markets and technologies - all of which required a "major shift in thinking, from support to action".

"It is now to be seen in plain sight that farming is in a world where it is for farmers to make their own decisions in all of this," he said. "The fundamental issue is taking responsibility and control of the management of the business, no longer looking to government for support.

"Now you don't get the money from the state you are beholden to nobody but your obligations under the law and looking at your own balance sheet and P&L account. That is a massive psychological shift of outlook to think about. It will be a big strain for some, but an easy opportunity for others."

The 2026 Norfolk Farming Conference was chaired by Agri-TechE director Dr Belinda Clarke (Image: Sonya Duncan)

The conference, chaired by Agri-TechE director Dr Belinda Clarke, also explored the value of collaboration and diversification during its session on "achieving more value from our land".

Speakers included Henry Astor, a third generation farmer from the Cotswolds, whose goal is to create an alternative farming system producing premium foods without reliance on government support.

He explained how local industry partnerships had helped him build the Bruern Flour Mill, which supplies artisan bakers nationwide with traditional and heritage flours milled from wheat grown on his own farm, part of the North East Cotswolds Farm Cluster.

The 2026 Norfolk Farming Conference at the Norfolk Showground (Image: Sonya Duncan)

Delegates also heard from Johnny Wake, managing partner of Courteenhall Farms - a diverse rural business in Northamptonshire, which also owns the Gawdy Hall estate near Harleston.

He has led the business’s move to regenerative agriculture to improve soil health and biodiversity, and overseen diversification investments in commercial property, poultry sheds, an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, and a large farm shop and cafe.

As co-founder of the Tove Valley Cluster Farm group and chairman of the Central England region of the Environmental Farmers Group, he also highlighted the value of collaboration to create opportunities by building "scale and credibility".

"Value and profit and long-termism - these are three things that are complementary, they are not in conflict," he said. "My grandfather talked about 'not screwing up' - but actually that is not good enough, that is only survival. We need to do more than that. We need to thrive."

The 2026 Norfolk Farming Conference at the Norfolk Showground (Image: Sonya Duncan)

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