International leaders and farmers from all corners of the UK will be among the speakers at January’s Oxford Farming Conference (OFC)
Tickets are now on sale on sale for the annual event which will focus on the theme “Routes to Resilience” with sessions covering trade, politics, science, climate, technology and individual farm success stories.
Speakers include the EU Agriculture Commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski; Professor Sarah Bridle, who recently published Food and Climate Change – Without the Hot Air; and Dr Catherine Nakalembe from NASA Harvest exploring what agriculture can learn from science to improve resilience.
Also speaking will be Sutherland farmer and columnist Joyce Campbell, who featured on the latest BBC television series of This Farming Life.
One of the event’s highlights, the Oxford Union debate will address the motion: This house believes food production in the UK should not be subsidised.
OFC Co-Chairs, Barbara Bray and Sarah Mukherjee said: “We are emerging into a post-CAP, post-Brexit, and post-pandemic era where resilience will be key to farming’s success. OFC Directors chose this topic coming out of the pandemic realising the importance of resilience will look to tackle some of the topic’s big questions.
“How can farmers be sustainable in their business management? How can we improve mental and emotional resilience? And, most importantly, what tools do they need to enable this?”
The co-chairs added: “OFC has always provided a unique opportunity to experience what is happening in the wider narrative, share ideas, challenge our politicians and explore how we can act on the opportunities that lie ahead. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to Oxford to set the scene for the year and drive our industry forward to become more resilient and prosperous.”
Full details regarding tickets, speakers, programme and fringe events are available via the OFC website.