The Oxford Real Farming Conference 2013

Can we really carry on with farming as it is? Can we be content with high-tech agribusiness, financed by debt? Who in this present world (especially among farmers!) can really feel happy about the future? And is it really the case that “there is no alternative”?The fact is there are better ways of doing things as you can hear and discuss at January’s Oxford Real Farming Conference — the 4th in our annual series. We’ll be hearing from experts – especially farmers – that Britain can be self-reliant in food, and that we’d all be much more secure if we aimed for this. We don’t need Brazilian soya to feed our livestock – and we certainly don’t need GM. But neither do we need to “turn the clock back”. We simply need excellent, humane farming based on sound biology and traditional know-how.

Of course, overall, we need an economic sea-change – but even as things are it’s possible to make a good living from good farming simply by growing good food and selling it direct to consumers. And this message doesn’t come from ivory-tower theoreticians, politicians, or financiers but from farmers, retailers and communities who are already showing what can be done.

Right now Britain needs more farmers – many times more than we have today. And it needs them soon. At the ORFC you can meet young (and not-so-young) people who are now re-invigorating farming – finding new, more profitable ways of marketing food.

If the new agriculture appeals to you be sure not to miss the Oxford Real Farming Conference. Join the discussion on where our farming future really lies and meet the people who are making change happen.