Conference proceedings

The Society has adopted an innovative approach to publishing the conference proceedings, which are now available online prior to the conference and on a CD in delegate satchels.

“One important advance in technology is in the use of improved computing power, via the Internet and electronic information exchange. We have taken the step of organising the conference as far as possible electronically, including producing the proceedings on CD. The hard copy proceedings of the 9^th Conference weighed in at 2.5 kg, which we felt was becoming unmanageable. Copies of the 9^th Proceedings are still available for sale if you wish to purchase one as a piece of history! We are collaborating with The Regional Institute to put proceedings of all past Agronomy Conferences on their web site, to be freely available and searchable. This will help to make an invaluable resource available to researchers, advisors, farmers and students.” Neville Mendham, Chair, 10^th Agronomy Conference: Science and Technology: Delivering Results for Agriculture

This approach has improved the professionalism of paper submissions and reduced the post conference workload. A beneficial side effect has been the training of authors in document presentation as all papers are required to follow a standard set of Microsoft Word guidelines.

Increasing world population and the effects of climate change means society faces key challenges to use resources more sustainably, to provide food security and to provide energy from renewable sources.

Agriculture is at the centre of many of these challenges and offers a diverse area of study. At Newcastle, we draw on a broad range of subject areas, from biology, soil science and nutrition to management, accounting and law.

Agronomy is the science of crop production and soil management, which has led to major improvements in yield and quality of food, fibre and energy crops over the last 30 years. This degree considers crop production systems that meet the economic objectives of producers, demands from society and consumers, and changing climatic conditions.

Core topics cover the production and the protection of crops such as:

• Cereals
• oilseeds
• pulses (peas and beans)
• cash roots (potatoes and sugar beet)
• field vegetables
• energy and fibre crops

You also take part in farm visits to observe crops grown on different types of soil as well as undertaking a dissertation on an agronomic subject of your choice.