The Oxford Farming Conference

In partnership with Agricology and open to both Oxford Farming Conference and Oxford Real Farming Conference delegates, this is a farm visit to Daylesford, to explore the role of resorative leys in different agricultural systems. The tour around Daylesford beef, sheep, dairy, forage conservation and arable production system will focus on sharing experiences, exploring practical questions around the establishment, species and breed selection, the benefits of soil health, weed control, yields and challenges to overcome.

A coach will collect participants from Oxford at 8.30am and return to the OFC at 2.30pm, in time for the start of the Fringe Events. 

(Ticket holders only - book here)

(Emerging Leaders only)

Room 8

BBSRC Innovation Hub, Room 14/15

The rise of technology in agriculture presents many opportunities for food production in the UK. BBSRC is investing in exciting advanced agricultural research that explores these opportunities and delivers them to UK farmers. Meet the researchers working to bring technological innovations out of the lab and onto the farm, tackling problems from food waste to herbicide-resistant blackgrass. 

There will be two sessions, the first starting at 3.15pm and the second at 4.30pm. Book onto the event or come and browse during the coffee break. Click on the picture below to view the topics and speakers.

An Innovative Farmers Event open to both OFC and Oxford Real Farming Conference delegates, this Fringe Event will showcase some great beer makers, talking about how they brew their ales. The event follows the successful Grate Cheese Debate held at the 2017 conference which went down very well with the delegates from both events. 

St Edmund Hall (Ticket holders only - Sold out)

Held at the beautiful Keble College which was founded in 1870, in memory of John Keble (1792-1866), a founding member of the so-called ‘Tractarian’ movement which sought to recover the Catholic heritage of the Church of England. Funding for the new College was sought from Tractarian sympathisers, including the benefactor of the Chapel, William Gibbs, whose family’s fortune was based on Peruvian bird droppings, a valuable fertiliser. Keble College opened its doors to just thirty students in 1870, and the Chapel was opened on St Mark’s Day 1876.  It is now one of the largest Oxford colleges, with 425 undergraduate and 246 graduate students. 

(Sold out)

Room 9, Examination Schools

A line up of politicians, including Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Defra and Paolo de Castro MEP, vice-chairman to the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and former Italian Minister for Agriculture and Ted McKinney, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs to United States Department of Agriculture.

Register to watch the session live online HERE

This session will explore digital change and opportunities for farming - the technologies, machine-learning and clever disruption.

Speakers: 

Amy Barthrope, Head of Business of We Farm, a free peer-to-peer service that enables farmers to share information via SMS, without the internet and without having to leave their farm. Farmers can ask questions on farming and receive crowd-sourced answers from other farmers around the world in minutes. 

Chris Sheldrick, CEO of What3Words will also be speaking. Brought up on a farm, Chris used to manage live events all over the world and was constantly frustrated by people trying to find places. So over a cup of tea with a mathematician friend, he shared his frustration with GPS coordinates and together they conceived a way of naming everywhere in the world that would be incredibly easy for people to use.

Kit Franklin, Harper Adams Univesity, Kit Franklin grew up on his parent’s farm in Gloucestershire and now currently lectures in Agricultural Engineering at Harper Adams University.  Focussing on international business development and innovative agricultural engineering research, Kit’s research into “future farming systems” has led to the ground-breaking and headline-grabbing ‘Hands-Free Hectare’ project. 

Professor Chris Elliott from Queens University, Belfast, an eloquent and brilliant speaker, will inform, challenge and inspire us about global food supply chains, food fraud and food safety. Watch the trailer below. 

Topic: "This House believes that by 2100 meat eating will be a thing of the past"

Proposing: George Monbiot, journalist, and campaigner

Seconder: Philip Lymbery, Compassion in World Farming
 

Opposing: Gareth Wyn Jones, farmer and broadcaster

Seconder: Emily Norton, farmer and researcher

Venue: Oxford Union

The Oxford Farming Conference's first ever Comedy Night which will be held in the Old Fire Station. Book early, numbers will be limited. Watch the trailer below.

Room 9, Examination Schools

James Wong is a Kew-trained botanist, science writer and broadcaster. His work for the BBC includes the award-winning 'Grow Your Own Drugs' and the 'The Secrets of Your Food', as well as Radio 4's 'Gardeners' Question Time'. He is passionate about communicating plant science to new audiences and in 2015, The Sunday Times listed him as one of the Top 20 most influential people in horticulture.

Steve Murrells will be speaking about his role as CEO of the Co-op Group. As a senior executive at the Co-op Steve has been a key part of the team which has rebuilt the Co-op, relaunched its membership proposition and returned its iconic blue clover-leaf logo to the high street. As CEO of Co-op Food, Steve was responsible for the Co-op’s £7bn-turnover food retail arm with its 2,800 strong network of stores and logistics operations which span the whole of the UK. He introduced the Co-op’s new retail strategy which focuses on convenience and turned around the business to grow its market share.