Held almost every year since 1936, the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) gathers farmers, economists, policy makers and other experts from within the food-growing community to explore rural issues and give farmers a voice through a series of speeches, debates and workshops. The headline theme this year was ‘Facing Change, Finding Opportunity’ – a recognition that the future is challenging.
Steve Reed, the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, gave the plenary speech, setting out how the new Labour Government would tackle some of the issues. But there were many other fascinating insights into how the future of farming may be shaped, and not just from within the UK.
International efforts offer insight into what we might expect to happen here – from technological advances and new policies to fresh ways of thinking and working. Here are 10 key takeaways from OFC 2025.
1. Nature grants are in turmoil
The nature and climate crisis is acute in the UK. State of Nature reports produced by the major conservation NGOs over recent years reveal that agriculture is a major driver of biodiversity declines and is a significant contributor to carbon emissions.
Many studies have shown that a better integrated health, environment and food strategy can lead to resilient, sustainable and profitable farming that benefits the environment. The UK Government appeared to have recognised this and, as environment secretary Steve Reed outlined in his OFC speech, was using a system of grants to reward and support sustainable food production in England while protecting and enhancing nature. This is called the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own farming policies.
Farmers could choose from a range of options, such as creating wildflower mixes, planting hedgerows, improving woodlands, digging ponds and leaving grass buffer strips along watercourses. A big bonus for farmers was that through SFI, they could generate income from marginal land where crops or livestock don’t flourish.
However, despite SFI being the focal point of Reed’s speech at the OFC, on 11 March the Government announced that it would no longer be accepting new applications for SFI, leaving the farming and nature-conservation communities in some confusion. Further details on an updated SFI are due to be published later in the year. In the meantime, Government policy on nature and sustainable farming is unclear.
2. Pollution could be turned into green energy
One of the biggest farming issues in Britain concerns pollution from agricultural practices leaching into watercourses and other habitats. But could this energy-rich waste – especially animal slurry and dung – be processed and turned into green energy? Ian Marshall at Queen’s University Belfast’s Institute of Global Food Security (IGFS) is optimistic.
In Northern Ireland, Marshall is exploring the use of a new wave of anaerobic digesters which process slurry solids and chicken manure to produce biogas, heat and electricity. What is currently considered a costly by-product that too often finds its way into rivers could now have a commercial value. Marshall points to a growing fleet of trucks and agricultural vehicles in Northern Ireland already powered by biofuels from waste, reducing the need for costly, polluting diesel.
3. We're more disconnected from food producers than ever
The UK’s modern food system breaks communities: this was the message from a panel discussion about ‘food connectivity’. The panel comprised food poverty campaigner Dominic Watters, Dee Woods from the Food Ethics Council and Nick Saltmarsh from Hodmedods Wholefoods, which champions fair and sustainable growing of pulses, seeds and grains.
The panel identified that the modern food system markets food to people but does not seek to feed them. It also depersonalises and reduces the importance of the food producer.
The panel called for more connection between farmers and local people, and a greater understanding and sympathy for poorer communities who have little access to quality food. Greater emphasis should be placed on teaching an understanding of food and cooking skills. And a simple measure such as putting the name and photograph of a farmer or food producer on packaging could start to rebuild connections and empower growers and consumers.
4. The AI and genetics debate continues
Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a major role in genetic science, especially in the development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Craig Lewis from the Pig Improvement Company (PIC) explained how AI technology has tripled the pace of genetic development. This enables scientists to accelerate change and tackle problems in years rather than decades, and it has had a direct application in the pig-farming world.
Porcine reproduction and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a massive issue, devastating to pig welfare and pork production. Accelerated genetic research has been able to quickly identify resistance to the PRRS virus and then edit the pig’s receptor genes so the virus cannot bind to them and thus be brought into the pig.
Lewis laid out the potential benefits of applying this genetic modification to a herd: the pigs would be healthier and there would be less suffering from disease; there would be less antibiotic use to treat secondary infections that attack animals weakened by the virus; healthier animals grow quicker and reach market sooner, improving profitability; and rural communities, especially pig farmers, would suffer less stress and depression as their herds would be healthier. However, many in the farming and wider community remain strongly opposed to GMO.
5. Could we learn lessons from Denmark?
Climate change was a persistent theme at the Oxford Farming Conference, with increasing calls from many quarters for more direction and more action to cope with change. So it was fascinating to hear from Denmark where what’s been described as a green revolution is taking place. Could the UK, which has a far greater land area and population, follow a similar path?
Lisbeth Henricksen, executive director of Seges Innovation, a research company specialising in sustainable agriculture, outlined some of the changes. About £5 billion worth of green investment is helping to get things started, and 2,500 hectares of new woodlands are being created.
Taxes are being introduced on livestock carbon emissions and there will be tax breaks for farmers instigating climate mitigation measures. In Henricksen’s words “high-emission production will be removed”. The wider plan is to make the most of top quality land for farming and turn marginal land over to nature.
6. Heat-resistant crops could become the norm
After falling for many years, global hunger has been on the rise since 2017. Much of this is linked to climate change, which has caused crop failures and food shortages in many parts of the world.
CIMMYT is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to “solving tomorrow’s problems today”. One area CIMMYT specialises in is breeding crops that will be resistant to the extreme temperatures and pathogens that are expected within the near future due to climate change. Dr Bram Govaerts, speaking on behalf of CIMMYT, explained that heat-resistant crops will be needed in the UK within the next 25 years. Sobering news.
In a secure vault in Mexico, CIMMYT holds 124,000 samples of wheat varieties and 28,000 maize varieties. It uses these as the basis for developing resilient traits for the crops of the future to help increase yields and safeguard global food supplies.
7. New farming methods are needed
Few people understand the climate-related issues facing the UK better than Professor Piers Forster, chair of the Climate Change Committee. It is the committee’s job to advise all four UK governments – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – on how to reach Net Zero, where carbon emissions are reduced to such a small level that any remaining emissions can be easily captured and stored.
Agriculture is responsible for 12% of UK carbon emissions so, says Professor Forster, it has a major role to play. He identified several key areas, including improved livestock systems and animal health, especially grazing on a mix of native grasses and legumes which helps capture carbon and reduce emissions. Tree planting and peat bog restoration are also vital; he also highlighted the need to focus on renewable energy and energy crops.
The key to all of this is education, with Professor Forster arguing that farmers need to be taught fresh ways of managing land, soil and livestock.
8. Swap UPFs for fresh fruit and veg
Poor diet is a major cause of ill-health in the UK, with links to rising levels of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, 13 types of cancer and declining mental health. Anna Taylor, executive director of the charity The Food Foundation, explained how ultra-processed foods are at the heart of the problem: they lack nutrients but are dangerously high in sugar, fat and salt. Even plastic packaging is hazardous as it leaches chemicals into the food. She called for “the potential of British produce to be unlocked” – that means more quality fruit and vegetables in our diets.
Taylor’s vision includes a national fruit and vegetable strategy integrating health, environment and farming – and beginning with public procurement. This would mean national governments and councils would source local, quality fruit and vegetables for schools, hospitals and prisons, driving demand and encouraging farmers and suppliers to change their practices.
Taylor also wants to see better marketing of fruit and vegetables through campaigns such as the very effective ‘Eat them to defeat them’ adverts that encourage children to eat more veg. She also suggested supermarkets should make their fruit and vegetable aisles more appealing.
9. Mental health needs to be addressed
With increasing mechanisation, most farms employ just one person permanently: the farmer. Add in the challenges of weather, crop failures and exhausting physical demands – as well as the need to balance books – and it’s easy to see why farming is one of the loneliest, most stressful jobs there is. A survey carried about by farming charity RABI in 2021 found that 36% of farmers were suffering from depression.
After her husband took his own life in 2016, Emma Picton-Jones understood that more needed to be done to reach out to the farming community, which has often found it difficult to talk about mental health.
That same year, Emma set up The DPJ Foundation to offer farmers 24-hour access to counselling. Since then her foundation has helped 1,185 people from ages 7–91. The foundation also has a health lorry that visits livestock markets to give farmers a health check. Of the 1,220 farmers who have taken part so far, 252 were referred straight to a GP and several immediately to hospital.
10. Diversity could boost farming success
Diversity was a key theme at OFC 2025. Like many forward-thinking businesses, the agricultural sector is recognising that diverse voices and cultures offer fresh perspectives that can have a major positive impact on the success of an organisation. What might once have been dismissed as ‘woke’ is now becoming mainstream.
Liz Haines is a farmer who has been granted a Nuffield Scholarship to investigate how to bring people from non-farming backgrounds into the industry; she is keen to raise awareness around neurodiversity and to improve job opportunities in agriculture.
Diagnosed with ADHD herself, Haines says neurodiversity helps with business success and believes it is a natural condition and not something that needs to be medically treated. Instead, she argues that businesses should actively recruit autistic and dyslexic people because they bring new problem-solving skills and alternative ways of thinking that are needed in these challenging times.
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