THE recent Government announcement of a five per cent renewable transport fuel obligation will come under the microscope at the 2006 Pershore Conference.

The event, to be held on Thursday, January 26, will discuss the issues surrounding the future of energy and what opportunities it provides for the industry.

It starts at 7.30pm and will be chaired by Dr David Hall, the former principal of Pershore Group of Colleges.

The conference features a strong line-up of speakers on the panel, including NFU deputy president Peter Kendall - an arable farmer from east Bedfordshire and past director of the Arable Research Centre.

The NFU south west region's combinable crops board chairman Archie Montgomery, who farms in Somerset, and Nick Maskery, the co-ordinator for Bioener-gy West Midlands, will also be speaking along with Melvyn Askew, the head of the agriculture and rural strategy group at the Central Science Laboratory.

Register your free place by calling 01684 853400.