Oxford Farming Conference

Routes to resilience

“We need to start farming like the earth matters and data allows us to plan better and do things better”

Dr Catherine Nakalembe,

Maryland University data scientist

“Life’s two most important days are the day you were born, and the day you figure out why”

Simon Best

“We have to find a way to work towards balanced power [in supply chains] in a voluntary manner, otherwise it will be forced on us by legislation”

Andrew Selley,

Bidcorp UK. How resilient is your farm business? With dramatic changes now the norm the 2022 on-line Oxford Farming Conference sought some pointers. Charles Abel reports

ON a crisp, frosty, blue-sky morning in early January over 1000 farming enthusiasts logged-on to the 76th Oxford Farming Conference – from farms and offices across the UK, even the odd ski chalet or warmclimate villa, for a lucky few.

The quest was common. Not a steer on the future. Covid, Brexit and Evergreen’s Suez canal-blocking mega-ship showed the need to expect the unexpected. Instead, tips on building resilience was the quest – for whatever future we may face.

Policy pointers

So where will resilience come from? Farmers may see recouping support cash as part of the equation. Secretary of State George Eustice quashed that. Government’s goal is to reverse nature’s decline, he stressed, hence Defra’s focus on ‘powerful incentives’ for soil health and nature-friendly farming, with barely a nod to rocketing input costs and global food price inflation.

Could that see the UK sleep-walk into a food crisis as it off-shores production, like energy supply? Far from it, he argued, a late2021 Defra review showing little change over the past 20 years. “But we are not remotely complacent, which is why we will review food security and domestic production every three years.”

Indeed, strong commodity markets could herald structural changes in farm gate prices, he felt, especially if farmers can secure a fairer share of food prices, rather than be held to retailer pricing assumptions.

So do slow policy changes hinder? Again, no. “It was always going to take seven years – evolution not revolution – with progressive BPS reductions feeding stewardship modules.” Annual Defra-funded vet visits to develop farm health plans will boost welfare, while the Landscape Recovery pilot launches this year and the Sustainable Farming Incentive is focusing on soil health, with hedgerow and IFM modules next.

A 30% rise in average Countryside Stewardship rates this year sends a strong signal for the 40,000 farmers not yet involved to join as a ‘bridge’ to future schemes, he urged.

The pathway in Wales is different, with truly sustainable agriculture the priority, said Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs. “We can’t ignore the climate/ nature emergency, so we will create a new system of farm support to maximise a long term future for farming, recognising its importance to society, providing an income, and leadership in sustainable farming, with rewards for clean air, clean water and flood mitigation.”

Farming is not the problem it is made out to be, added Edwin Poots, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, where policy proposals include a focus on smarter farming, such as renewable energy capture from cow methane. “Efficient farming is better for the environment than inefficient farming. That isn’t very popular in some sectors, but it’s true.”

There was no contribution from the Scottish Government.

A wider view

Farming resilience will be best served by science, open markets and globalisation, argued Jason Hafemeister, Secretary’s Trade Counsel at the US Department of Agriculture. A global protocol to uphold production standards is unnecessary, he argued,

quoting GATT and WTO principles. “The characteristics of goods are the key, not the system that produced them.”

Emissions have global impact, he acknowledged, so focusing on some aspects of production, maybe including carbon taxes, was relevant, but must be done empirically, without protectionism.

By contrast Ireland’s Origin Green provides clear proof points of its enhanced sustainable production standards to international customers, a forerunner of the EU’s CAP Green Deal focus, noted Charlie McConalogue, Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

So what can farmers do? “We need plasticity to be nimble, flexible and remould ourselves, our businesses and even our nation, to reposition after irreversible changes, like covid, because the opportunities are enormous,” enthused New Zealand farmer and Special Agricultural Trade Envoy Mel Poulton. She saw relationships as key to farm resilience.

Producers and retailers need to work together on sustainability agreements, added Michelle Meagher, a lawyer with the Balanced Economy Project. Although competition authorities currently prohibit that, as seen with the high welfare Chicken of Tomorrow pricing initiative in the Netherlands, the UK Competition and Markets Authority is now considering exemptions.

Inspiring farmers

Simon Best of Poyntzpass, Co Armagh exemplified the personal facets of resilience, drawn from a career in international rugby. The desire to achieve, having a clear longterm vision for improvement, measuring to manage, knowing what success looks like and celebrating success all helped him secure the 2021 Farmers Weekly Arable Farmer of the Year award, recognising his drive for continuous improvement, including the farm’s environmental sustainability and participation in the ARC Zero project to establish a verifiable baseline for whole farm carbon emissions.

“We do not inherit this land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children,” he noted. “That is why we exist, it is our ‘why’. So live like you’re going to die tomorrow, but farm like you are going to live forever.”

Kate Rowell is a fifth generation sheep and suckler cow farmer in the Scottish Borders, chair of Quality Meat Scotland and a member of the Trade and Agriculture Commission. “Take any opportunity that comes along,” she advised. “I suffer imposter syndrome as much as anyone, and that’s ok. A role model is key, and for me it was NFU President Minette Batters, who gave me the best advice ever – just do it and after a while it gets easier.”

For Rhys Williams the key is to “believe in who you are, what you are doing and never give up.” An openness to new ideas, relying on the team’s skills, and strong communication have helped him grow from share milking on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales 16 years ago to a business now milking 1800 cows on a low cost, spring calving system, following experience in New Zealand.

Resilience through adversity was bravely explored by Zanna Joice whose Norfolkbased poultry farming husband Patrick, while suffering terminal cancer and severe depression, raised awareness and £53,000 for the rural mental health charity You Are Not Alone (www.yanahelp.org).

“The naked farmer cricket day proved a turning point, drawing an unbelievable response from people far and wide, and providing a sense of purpose,” recalled Zanna. “Three years later his memory lives on and changes lives and saves lives. Patrick showed you can be male, work in farming and admit you need help, and actively accept it.”

Many routes to resilience do exist – so how many will UK farmers seize in 2022?

“Being the best farmers in the world must mean being the best farmers for the world”

Damien O’Connor,

New Zealand Agriculture Minister

“Farmers can’t be green if they’re in the red!”

Charlie McConalogue,

Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

TAKE CARE WITH YOUR CARBON & NATURAL CAPITAL

Good governance is needed to avoid unintended consequences from trading natural capital and carbon, says a new WWF/Tesco/ Green Alliance/OFC/Savills report. “The potential market value of £1.7bn/ yr for carbon credits alone is roughly half the value of all public support payments for agriculture,” says Emily Norton, OFC Director and Savills Head of Rural Research. “But we cannot jump at this new opportunity without the right safety nets.” Government should create a land use framework and Office for Carbon Removal so a ‘dash for carbon’ doesn’t damage food production, local communities and nature recovery. “It’s important that farmers and land managers understand that, once they sell carbon offset credits, they can’t then count them towards the farm’s own efforts to cut carbon,” adds James Elliott of Green Alliance. “Collaborating with customers to cut emissions and sequester carbon within the supply chain could be a safer bet.”