Comment – not for turning

This week has often found yours truly in Oxford at ‘the’ Oxford Farming Conference, and, on occasion at the ‘other’ Oxford (real) Farming Conference. Now if you know your correspondent reasonably well, you will know that the Oxford Farming Conference has been a fixture in my life for several decades. Bar Covid, and a change of Secretariat in 2018, yours truly has attended every one since 1998 (ish). I’m showing my age now.

This year, for a variety of reasons (offspring heading back to uni amongst them) I didn’t attend in person. Despite a significant amount of FOMO (ask the kids if you don’t know what what means), I still had an online press pass, and could login at will to enjoy the speakers as I wished. I really missed the social aspects, and many of the excellent speakers would have been better in person, but I got a lot from it regardless.

One of my New Years predictions was that the Secretary of State for Agriculture (Steve Reed, currently) would be on his hind legs at Oxford, explaining that the government regrets not taking the temperature of the industry prior to the blunt intervention of the end of APR in the last budget. In turn they would implement some transition measures to soften the blow for older farmers at the least. How wrong was I?

Yes, there were fine words about ensuring that the public estate buy British produce, but like all these things, let’s see the detail, rather than hear the rhetoric.

I must confess to feeling a little gloomy following that particular speech, but in line with other ‘Oxfords’ attended in the past, the Minister is only one part, and the other, many inspiring positive speakers from the industry tell a very different tale. It’s a great reminder that change brings opportunity and with numerous motivated, professional farmers attending and speaking, we are part of a vital and exciting industry.

As an aside, several tractor manufacturers must have been very pleased with their product placement on Oxford High Street during the Secretary of States speech on Thursday morning?

Making predictions at the start of the year is always a dangerous occupation. It’s not stopped another of my valued correspondents from ‘having a bash’. He submitted an impressive array of handwritten notes, by month no less, and in quite good English.  I’m going to fillet them now and just share one which makes very good reading  June 25 – Ukraine (under pressure from US) agrees truce with Russia. BlackRock co-ordinates largest infrastructure rebuilding project ever, global shares push to record levels. There are 11 more months worth to go at in this little trove, excepting the snide comments regarding sheep farmers, they are great reading.

If this has offered you some inspiration, collar me at LAMMA or drop me a line and I can add you to the ‘anonymous contributor’ list.

Have a good week,

Andy