Farmer Tom Bradshaw is inviting all local arable growers to the first meeting of a new Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) Monitor Farm project at Fletchers Farm in Fordham, near Colchester.

Visitors at the opening meeting, from 12.30pm to 5pm, will find out more about the three-year project, help analyse the 1,485ha arable business, and set the direction for the Monitor Farm by working together and sharing experiences. A farm tour will be followed by breakout sessions and discussions, and local growers will help complete a business analysis of the farm.

Tim Isaac, HGCA regional manager, said: “It is a unique opportunity to test thinking on farm while facing real issues and I really hope you can be involved.” If you want to attend, email Tim Isaac at east@hgca.ahdb.org.uk.

Tom is a partner in his family farm and grows 1,485ha of combinable crops – malting barley, milling wheat, peas and beans – to the west of Colchester in Essex. Apart from a small area of owned land, the majority is farmed under contracting arrangements and includes a wide range of soil types. He has been involved in Recommended Lists trials, and appeared on the BBC Harvest programme in 2013. Tom was recently elected to the NFU combinable crops board.