The Oxford Farming Conference 2019
January 10, 2019
On Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th January, The Prince’s Countryside Fund were delighted to attend the 2019 Oxford Farming Conference and Real Oxford Farming Conference both a highlight for many in the agricultural world.
The Fund held a breakfast on Friday morning at the Oxford Farming Conference. Allan Wilkinson, Head of Agriculture at HSBC and Trustee of the Fund kicked the event off by introducing the role of The Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme. Sarah Brockless of Oakbank Ltd spoke about her experience in ecology management and its value for those undertaking The Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme and its forthcoming ‘Managing your Farmed Environment’ workshop.
The Fund team enjoyed the programme of extremely useful talks at both conferences, with speakers including 59 Degrees, a cohort a cohort of Swedish and Welsh soil experts exemplifying the model of small acreage and hyper utilisation of space in their talk ‘Making Small Farms Work’, to the Uplands Alliance panel on ‘Maximising the Potential of Uplands Businesses’ which looked at changing financial pressures and new opportunities in stewardship schemes.
The Fund were very pleased to watch Michael Gove’s talk at the Oxford Farming Conference, where the Defra Secretary of State signalled his support for our work and programmes, including The Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme – a wonderful recognition of our ongoing efforts in rural communities.
