Peter Kendall was in confident, commanding form, as he delivered his sixth speech as president to the NFU's annual conference, held this year in the imposing surroundings of the ICC in Birmingham.

The anti-badger cull demonstrators in the square outside only served to reinforce the sense of agricultural solidarity within.

To a greater extent than for many years, farming is an industry at peace with itself, as it enjoys a renewed relevance to the world around it.

"Sustainable growth" was Peter Kendall's challenge, and it is a challenge about which the vast majority of the farming community are not merely comfortable, but genuinely enthusiastic. And if that is maybe truer of tomorrow's generation of farmers than yesterday's, then so much the better, for they are the people who are going to have to make it happen.

The conference had an air of self-confidence about it which was stronger than I can remember since the glory days of Henry Plumb in the 1970s. Whereas ten or 15 years ago, farming stuck out like a sore thumb as a disease-ridden economic basket-case, now it stands out as a precious beacon of growth in an economy mired in recession.

On its own, agriculture is still only a minor player in the totality of the economy – generating barely one per cent of GDP – but add in the food and drink industry, and you find yourself with a £100billion sector, which is now the UK's fourth-biggest exporter, something that has not passed unnoticed, even in the highest reaches of Government. All of a sudden, farming is being taken seriously again.

The big political issue in farming this year is that hardy perennial, CAP reform. Peter Kendall has a difficult path to tread. He doesn't like the EU Commission's plans to take seven per cent of land out of production and make arable farmers grow a minimum of three crops. But he also knows that the most widely-canvassed alternative to those plans – to allow member states to choose from a menu of "greening" options – would give the Government a licence to gold-plate, which could leave English farmers once again uniquely burdened.

So if he was kinder to the EU Agriculture Commissioner, Dacian Ciolos, than many of the farmers at the meeting had been expecting, then that was the explanation. It is the commission which is the guardian of common standards across EU farming, and the more the final outcome is shaped by the commission, as opposed to being left to member states, the better it will be for farmers in England. That may seem paradoxical, and even a bit depressing, but it's true.

Mr Ciolos himself added little to what we know already about plans for reform. He acknowledged that they have so far attracted very little support, and hinted at the "greater flexibility", which Peter Kendall so much fears. A retreat from the principle of greening seems unlikely, if Mr Ciolos wants to preserve anything like the current CAP budget, which seems to be his principal objective.

There were few surprises in the Government's response to the Macdonald Task Force report on farming red tape, which was published yesterday afternoon. A relaxation in the six-day standstill will make life easier on livestock farms which have the ability to isolate incoming stock, and participants in farm assurances schemes can look forward to fewer inspections on the basis of "earned recognition". But a complete change of regulatory culture at Defra? I'll believe that when I see it.

The NFU's office-holder elections will be held this evening. Only the 90 or so members of the NFU Council have a vote. Peter Kendall is unopposed but still needs 75 per cent endorsement for a fourth term. On the face of it, Meurig Raymond and Gwyn Jones face much tougher struggles to carry on as deputy and vice president, respectively.