Oxford Farming Conference at Cereals 2010

The Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) will partner the Cereals 2010 Event on the 9th and 10th of June to bring a summer conference to the industry’s flagship technical arable event. The move will see thought-provoking speakers tackle two topics; applied arable science and the Campaign for the Farmed Environment, both issues inextricably linked with the sector’s future and its competitiveness.

This new conference has special significance for the OFC because the Cereals Event will be hosted by an OFC Council member, Robert Law at his farm near Royston.

“The OFC is associated with a high level conference at the start of January in the formal surroundings of Oxford University,” explains OFC Chairman, Christine Tacon. “So we are really excited about teaming up with Cereals 2010 to run a conference at the Event. The Oxford Farming Conference’s charitable remit is very clearly a leadership and educational role, yet we are restricted in the number of people who can be at the conference by the capacity of the Examination Halls at Oxford. Teaming up with Cereals allows us to debate some of the arable sector’s big issues in an open and ‘all-welcome’ forum, with some high-profile leaders.”

Two sessions will be held on both days of Cereals starting with the ‘Science in the Arable Sector’ at 11am and the ‘Campaign for the Farmed Environment’ at 2.30pm.

“The science session will highlight some of the latest arable innovations and will explore where future R&D needs to be focused to meet the objectives of both farmers and the supply chain,” says Christine Tacon, who is also Managing Director of The Co-operative Farms, itself a large arable business. “The Campaign for the Farmed Environment session will tackle how the campaign is progressing and its commercial viability on arable farms.”

All four sessions will be chaired by The Oxford Farming Conference Directors.
The organisers are encouraging visitors to come and join the debate. “The conference will be open to all and held in a large, airy marquee with plenty of standing room at the back, for those who just want to wander in and listen,” Ms Tacon adds.

For more information on the Cereals Event go to www.cerealsevent.co.uk

-Ends-
361 words
Notes for Editors
For further information contact Jane Craigie on 01466780078 or email jane@janecraigie.com

About OFC
For more than 60 years the Oxford Farming Conference has been THE way to start each year. The Oxford Farming research has become an important part of the conference probing some of the fundamental issues facing the British farming industry. Oxford’s speakers are of the highest calibre, from Royalty to agribusiness leaders and from international politicians to entrepreneurial young farmers. The conference’s audience is an essential ingredient, bringing with it a wealth of expertise to the debate.