conference

‘Health, Beauty and Permanence’ – Reflections on Michael Gove’s NFU Conference speech

I haven’t made it to the NFU Conference this year, but thanks to the wonders of youtube I was at least able to catch outgoing NFU President Meurig Raymond’s speech and Defra Secretary Michael Gove’s speech (thanks @NFUtube!). You can of course read the full speech from the Secretary of State here. Here is a briefContinueContinue reading “‘Health, Beauty and Permanence’ – Reflections on Michael Gove’s NFU Conference speech”

First day of #ORFC18

Around 800 people descended on Oxford Town Hall yesterday morning to attend the 9th Oxford Real Farming Conference. This is my third time attending the event, but it feels just as exciting and in many ways just as groundbreaking as my first a few years ago. This year the ORFC is focusing on four distinctContinueContinue reading “First day of #ORFC18”

A new year and another Oxford Trip

Happy new year to you all! I hope that your celebrations, no matter where you were in the world on New Year’s Eve, were full of hope and joy to welcome the new year in. The turning of the year is always an opportunity to reframe things in your mind, set plans for the yearContinueContinue reading “A new year and another Oxford Trip”

#farmenviro30

At the Birdfair in 2016 a plan for an event was formed and tomorrow it will finally become reality. For the first time members of the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs and A Focus on Nature, the UK youth conservation network, will come together to learn about conservation on farmland today and discuss theContinueContinue reading “#farmenviro30”

What was the Silsoe Conference and why should we remember it?

Forty eight years ago, in July 1969, a conference was held at Silsoe Agricultural College in Bedfordshire. It was jointly organised by the RSPB, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), The Wildlife Trusts, the National Conservancy Council (now Natural England) and the Agricultural Development Advisory Service (ADAS), and it aimed to bring farmers and conservationistsContinueContinue reading “What was the Silsoe Conference and why should we remember it?”