The Oxford Farming Conference is something of an institution which each year tries to address a significant issue facing agriculture. The theme for the 2012 conference was "Who holds the power in global agriculture" and the Power in Agriculture report produced for the conference makes fascinating reading. (http://www.ofc.org.uk/papers ). Dr. Alan Renwick SAC's Head of Land Economy and Environment Research Group, lead author, gave a very fascinating summary of findings - it was interesting to hear for example how few companies are now involved in the production and distribution of key inputs such as fertiliser and seed across the world - does this make global agriculture vulnerable?
Other speakers ranged from representatives of Transnational Companies - the so called TNCs - to small businesses developing niche products. Caroline Spelman Defra Minister entitled her talk "Big Chances for a Small Island" and was applauded by some of the livestock farmers in the room for her stance on the badger cull but there was very little else of note in her speech which mainly focused on the challenges of CAP reform without giving many definitive examples of the UK's stance. The RSPB's Director of Conservation Martin Harper gave a strong account of why the declines shown by the Farmland Bird Index are particularly relevant in the light of potential intensification - but I felt that the farmers were left feeling that there was little new information to inform their land management.
No comments:
Post a Comment