Held in early January at the same time as the long-running Oxford Farming Conference, the Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) attracts farmers, policymakers, growers and researchers who are interested in transforming food systems so they work more fairly for the environment, the people working on the land and the consumer.
Here are seven takeaways from ORFC 2025 that could have an impact on how we farm and use land in the future.
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From farm to fashion
The modern fashion industry relies on complex fossil-fuel-heavy supply chains. A lot of today’s ‘fast fashion’ is made in developing countries from synthetics, usually plastics, by poorly paid people working in appalling conditions. A panel discussion at ORFC looked at how we can reconnect people to local landscapes, clothing culture and high-quality products that are long-lasting through four traditional natural materials: wool, leather, flax and hemp.
Jen Hunter of Fernhill Fibre in Somerset’s Mendip Hills has 3,000 organically farmed sheep from which she produces quality yarns, felts and fabrics. Wool has seen its value drop drastically in recent decades but Hunter hopes that, as people reject fast fashion, they will rediscover the value of this durable, versatile material.
At British Pasture Leather, Sarah Grady uses hides from regenerative beef farms. She pointed out that, in conventional leather working, there is no distinction made over the hides’ origins. Grady added that more work can be done to connect leather production to biodiversity.
Clare O’Sullivan of Contemporary Hempery in Suffolk talked about hemp’s long history in Britain and its great potential as a textile of the future. The Saxons first brought hemp to East Anglia and, for centuries, the fibre was used for ropes and rigging as well as hard-wearing cloth. Hemp grows easily, said O’Sullivan, needing no pesticides or weeding.
Like hemp, linen made from flax plants – a booming industry in the 19th century – is another traditional textile that could be revived in Britain. Rose Bristow of Fantasy Fibre Mill is exploring the material’s potential while also developing machines to process flax. Like many of the other textile producers, she highlighted the lack of textile processing infrastructure in modern Britain. Flax is a useful dual crop – the seeds can be eaten while the stems are made into linen. The beautiful blue flowers are also a wonderful boost to pollinators.
Small farm efficiency
Over the past 70 years, conventional farming has sought efficiency through ever bigger fields and bigger machines to work them. But Perrine Bulgheroni from Bec Hellouin farm in Northern France expressed a fresh view of what true efficiency in farming could look like. Through her hard-won experience on her own farm and working with other young farmers, she had fascinating advice for growers of the future. She added that small food-production systems may well be the best approach to maintain yields in the face of climate change.
On her land and that of similar-minded farmers, Bulgheroni “mimics nature” with ponds, trees and hedges creating microhabitats and climates to counteract the extreme heat and wind that is predicted in future. She describes the growing area as an ecosystem, with crops and wildlife existing in “collaboration and competition” – and the best farmers take advantage of both elements of this. She has found that through these systems the same amount of food can be grown on 1/10th of a hectare as is grown on 1.5 hectares in a conventional mechanised system.
Finally, Bulgheroni emphasised three priorities that all farmers of the future should ensure their land is self-sufficient in: “water, water… and more water”.
Grazing for biodiversity
Livestock sometimes get a bad press. Cattle are blamed for producing methane, a potent greenhouse gas, while ‘red meat’ is often criticised because of the resources needed to produce it and health-related issues that arise from over-eating it. However, as Teleri Fielden demonstrated on her farm in Eryri (Snowdonia), and experts from the Sustainable Food Trust, Plantlife and the rewilded Knepp Estate in Sussex explained, sensitively managed livestock farming can reap a huge dividend for nature.
Cattle, in particular, have a dynamic effect on landscapes. Their large bodies and heavy hoofs can disturb scrub, break up thatched grasses and create endless habitat pockets and micro-climates for a range of species. Used in a rotation with cereal crops, cattle can also fertilise the soil.
To avoid the methane emissions, the speakers recommended planting a mixed herbal ley – essentially a species-rich grassland providing a range of minerals and nutrients that are more easily digestible and health-giving than the monoculture grasslands supplemented by animal feed now dominating the beef and dairy world. Multi-species leys are good for biodiversity both above and below ground and on-field tests show a marked increase in soil carbon-carrying capacity. Carefully managed, these leys provide all the food the cattle need year-round and reduce the need for expensive bought-in feeds, fertilisers and chemical treatments.
Fossil-fuel-free farming
Most modern faming is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels. As well as farm vehicles and machinery powered by diesel, commonly used fertilisers and pesticides are manufactured using petrochemicals. Then there is the transport of goods from the farm to supermarket. In addition, 40% of all fossil fuel use in the agricultural sector goes into the processing and packaging of produce. In the face of climate change, a panel explored what can be done to reduce fossil-fuel dependency in the sector.
There is still some way to go before tractors and lorries will be powered by electricity. One issue is battery size – the larger the vehicle, the heavier and more expensive the technology. However, AI and automation could mean that farming machines of the future will be far smaller and more precise than the behemoth tractors and combines that we see today. This could also lead to smaller fields and less soil compaction – which could reduce flooding and be good for fertility and biodiversity.
The panellists also pointed to the energy-heavy processes of ploughing and silage making. These could be drastically reduced through organic no-till methods and grazing systems that provide winter forage for livestock instead of silage. AI could also be employed to make working practices more efficient, reduce waste and create shorter transport routes to market through linking customers directly with local farmers.
In the immediate term, panellists called for an end to the subsidy for red (farming) diesel and for the money to be used to encourage growers to invest in clean energy instead.
A new grain on the block
Meshark Sikuku is the farm systems and sustainability co-ordinator for Ripple Effect, an organisation that works across six East African countries. At ORFC, he had practical advice for gardeners and smallholders on how to cope with extreme weather caused by climate change. He spoke about amaranthus, a resilient, highly nutritious plant with spinach-like leaves and seeds that can be used as a grain. In East Africa, amaranthus is found everywhere and regarded as a weed. Yet, because it thrives in arid regions, it could be a vital solution to food poverty in many areas. Sikuku described it as a “super-plant”. The gluten-free seeds are already being sold in the UK – add them to stews and rice dishes for extra flavour and protein.
Doing dairy differently
Most milk we drink in Britain comes from large herds – with farmers often receiving only a tiny fraction of what we pay per pint. The ORFC heard from three young farmers who have set up dairies with a different approach to milking, animal welfare and marketing: Hallam Duckworth in the Cotswolds, Phyllida Warmington in the Quantocks and Anna Bowen from West Wales.
What they all have in common is outdoor grazing systems on herbal leys that provide “super nutrition”, as Duckworth described it. They all use the calf-contact system too. In traditional dairy farming, dairy cows must have calves in order to produce milk but the calves are removed within weeks of birth so no milk is ‘lost’. In contrast, in Duckworth, Warmington and Bowen’s dairies, the cows remain with their mums for six to nine months. The social contact means contented cows and higher peak milk yields. Bowen said this makes for happier farmers, too, and that high-quality raw (unpasteurised) milk can fetch up to £3.50 per litre compared to 30p per litre for traditional dairy systems.
Duckworth is also experimenting with the Austrian Fleckvieh breed of cattle instead of the traditional black-and-white Holstein-Friesian dairy cow. He claims they are healthier, have better fertility and produce more milk.
Food spray pest control
Pesticides are a central tool in conventional farming – toxic sprays or applications that kill or deter crop-eating pests. However, studies show that these chemicals are dangerous to wildlife and have a negative impact on human health. Vicki Hird, the strategic lead on agriculture at the Wildlife Trusts and Stephanie Williamson of the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) revealed that 44% of farmers and farm workers have suffered from acute pesticide poisoning – from burns and seizures to cancers, fertility issues and nervous system disorders.
Hird and Williamson talked about the urgent need to find safe, sustainable alternatives and focused on “food spray pest control”. Developed in the early 1990s by Australian Cotton Research, this method has been used in the field for 20 years by more than 20,000 farmers in East and West Africa. Initially made from waste brewers’ yeast and now from part-fermented maize and diluted with sugar in water, it is sprayed on young crops. It works by attracting predatory insects that locate their prey – plant-sucking or munching insects – through smell. The spray mimics this scent and so boosts numbers of natural predators in the crop (the sugar is food that keeps the predators in situ). All the farmers using this technique have recorded significant boosts to their yields. Hird and Williamson noted it is also important to create natural habitat strips around crops to provide refuges for these natural predators.
Discover more about food and farming
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- Who is Britain’s fittest farmer? Grit, muscle and sweat on show as competitors battle it out at Jeremy Clarkson’s Pub
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Top illustration credit: Getty
