This year, Irish Country Living is faced with a real challenge. When we returned to the Europe Hotel in Killarney last year, we had a great conference to live up to. Now, as we make our way to the Royal County and the Knightsbrook Hotel in Trim on 22 October, we have two conferences to top.

However, here in Irish Country Living we’re not afraid of a challenge. In fact, this year we’re setting our standards even higher. We’re bringing the conference to our readers in the northeast, but with Trim just an hour from Roscommon it’s also an easy journey from the midlands and the northwest. Of course, we also have very loyal supporters in the south of the country and we’re hopeful that they will be driving up to us.

For the first time, we’re offering an overnight package that is hard to resist. For €85 per person sharing, you have overnight accommodation in the plush Knightsbrook Hotel, breakfast and an evening meal the night before the conference. As well as the scrumptious meal, Michael Harding, the author of Staring at Lakes, will be our after dinner speaker and he’ll even be reading some passages from his book. On top of that, Fiona Hoban will lift our spirits with laughter yoga and we’ll also have some music, so you’ll be singing all the way to bed.

Make sure it’s not too much of a late one, as our line-up for the conference the next day will keep you busy right until 6pm. As it’s the UN Year of Family Farm, this will be our focus throughout the morning.

Professor Mary Daly, president of the Royal Irish Academy, will be speaking on the topic of farming in Ireland through the ages, while Professor Sally Shortall from Queens University will broach the topic of the changing roles in the farm family household. Family will also be a key theme for Dr Anne Cassidy from NUI Galway, who will discuss sibling attachment to the land, while Tanya Watson from Teagasc will talk about land ownership in Ireland. You will also meet our top contenders from the UN Year of Family Farming competition.

We will also have up-to-date information on new PRSI rules, plus we will be looking at Macra’s land mobility project.

That’s not all. Hold on to your seats ladies, as we have Karl Henry helping us to get healthy in the afternoon. And there’ll be a mouth-watering, but nutritious, cookery demonstration from Clodagh McKenna.

We’ll also be inspired by Margaret Farrelly of Clonarn Clover. This lady might have raised her profile with her work on RTÉ’s Secret Millionaire, but at the core she’s a woman who built her family farm business into the leading supplier of free-range eggs in the retail sector in Ireland.

All this, and much more, will be wrapped up by MEP Marian Harkin, who works on a range of issues which are truly at the heart of rural Ireland – agriculture, Credit Unions, sustainable development, jobs and supporting family carers.

Finally, we can’t reveal our surprise act before lunch, but believe us, you won’t be disappointed. Singer Mary Byrne, who found fame on the X Factor, will be closing out the day and we can’t wait to hear her hit those high notes.

Tickets go on sale at the Ploughing Championships for €50 and don’t forget that includes a sit-down lunch. Tickets sold out two weeks in advance last year and we expect 2014 to be no different. Book by contacting the Irish Farmers Journal on 01-419-9505.