TO BE PUBLISHED December 2026
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This conference will focus on next steps for the use of data and improving transparency across the UK food system. The agenda will consider priorities for connecting and making better use of agricultural, environmental and supply chain information, including data standards and interoperability, measurement and verification, traceability and reporting, consumer information, and the governance of shared data infrastructure.
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to discuss current policy development focused on moving towards more connected food data systems, infrastructure and governance. It takes place in the context of plans for England in the Farming Roadmap 2050, alongside relevant approaches and implications across the devolved nations and for UK-wide supply chains. Attendees will consider how new and existing arrangements can best work together in practice, including where greater consistency may be needed, and the implications of changing reporting and disclosure requirements.
Delegates will examine the impact on farmers, food and supply chain businesses and other organisations contributing data and making use of it, including approaches to reducing duplication and administrative burden. Questions around ownership, access, control and commercial sensitivity will also be considered, including the degree of agency retained by those providing data, and how confidence can be built in the way information is shared and used. Further areas for discussion include the costs and capacity required for implementation, and how incentives and governance arrangements might support participation and a fair distribution of the value created, including allowing those contributing data to benefit from its wider use.
The conference will also assess how improved collection, sharing and use of information can support traceability, supply chain resilience, and business and investment decisions. Discussion will consider the potential for better data to strengthen environmental measurement and markets, regulatory and policy delivery, and the quality and clarity of information available to consumers. Further discussion will consider the role of AI, remote monitoring, automated reporting and decision-support tools, including requirements around data quality, access, capability and trust.
Food data infrastructure, governance & innovation
The agenda will consider priorities for developing shared food data infrastructure and the governance needed to support its use across the sector. Discussion will draw on emerging models, including the Food Infrastructure & Governance project and the National Data Library, alongside considerations for standards, access arrangements, accountability and the conditions needed to build confidence in shared systems. The potential role of AI and other digital technologies will also be considered in areas such as analysis, reporting and decision-support, alongside questions of data quality, provenance, capability, and practical adoption.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- data infrastructure: priorities for national platforms and shared datasets - identifying priority datasets and improving access arrangements - interoperability across sectors
- governance & accountability: roles across agencies and delivery bodies - standards for access and use - certification and codes of practice for handling farm and business data
- AI & digital innovation: predictive modelling, automated reporting and decision-support tools - data quality, provenance and consequences of poor inputs - practical adoption
- digital inclusion: connectivity and capability for smaller farms and food businesses - skills and data literacy - avoiding exclusion from new systems and services
- incentives: lessons from emerging pilots - how value created from shared data is distributed among those who contribute it - encouraging participation across supply chains
- institutional capacity:
- responsibilities across Defra, the FSA, DHSC and the devolved governments - coordination, funding and continuity
- implications of programmes changing or being restructured during delivery
Farming & land use data - access, control & practical use
Delegates will consider priorities for the collection, sharing and use of agricultural and land-use data, including how arrangements can work more effectively for farmers, businesses, government and other users. Discussion will address interoperability and reporting burden, alongside questions of access, control, commercial use and the practical value of data-sharing.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- data ownership & control:
- who holds and licenses agricultural data - contractual terms, portability and lock-in - limits of data protection law for farm data
- confidence in how data is used and how farmers can benefit from sharing it
- interoperability & standards:
- improving interoperability across government, private sector and assurance systems
- common approaches and data standards - reducing fragmented reporting requirements
- digital delivery:
- geospatial data, soil datasets, remote monitoring and decision-support tools - progress towards a single digital farming account
- practical adoption across different farming systems
- administrative burden: simplifying evidence requirements - avoiding duplication - considerations for whether digital systems replace rather than add to existing compliance processes
- data-enabled benefits:
- farm management and land-use planning - business and production decisions
- agricultural payments, monitoring and assurance - evidence for policy and regulatory delivery
Supply chain transparency, commercial data & consumer information
Further discussion will consider how information is shared across the food supply chain and how it reaches consumers. Sessions will address traceability and transparency, alongside questions of commercial sensitivity, responsibility for data and the practical impact of new requirements.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- traceability & digital records:
- priorities and options for digital product records following the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade call for evidence
- implications for businesses trading across GB, NI and the EU - supporting resilience and consumer confidence
- fair dealing: regulations in dairy and pig sectors - extension to eggs and fresh produce - price and market data as a route to fairer returns for producers
- commercial considerations: managing access to sensitive business information - responsibilities for maintaining accurate data - balancing openness with competitiveness
- supply chain resilience: using shared information to identify risks, improve production planning and respond to disruption - evidence on climate, input costs and single points of failure
- consumer information & trust: improving clarity and accessibility of food information - credible and comparable sustainability and provenance claims - avoiding fragmented approaches
- health & sales reporting: mandatory reporting proposals for healthy food sales by large businesses - consistency of metrics
Environmental monitoring, verification & sustainability reporting
Discussion will consider how trusted environmental data can support environmental markets, investment decisions and policy delivery, alongside challenges around methodology, verification, cost and proportionality.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- measurement & consistency:
- developing shared approaches for emissions, biodiversity and natural capital data
- credible baselines - comparability between carbon calculators and footprinting methods
- verification & assurance: requirements for trusted evidence - costs of measurement and validation - emerging sustainability assurance standards - keeping approaches practical for land managers
- sustainability reporting frameworks:
- implications of the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards and FCA's proposals for listed companies - scope 3 emissions and what listed customers ask of their suppliers
- relationships with existing reporting requirements and international frameworks
- environmental markets: supporting carbon, biodiversity and natural capital initiatives - building confidence among investors and participants
- proportionality: maintaining transparency and accountability while taking account of capacity for farms and smaller businesses - avoiding overlap of reporting burden across the supply chain
- evidence and decision-making:
- improving the quality and availability of environmental data
- supporting farm and business decisions, agricultural and environmental policy, monitoring and assessment
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include officials from the Department for the Economy, NI; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, NI; Environment Agency; Food Standards Agency; Food Standards Scotland; and the Welsh Government.
