Archive > 2011 > Overview

AGM

Delegate Registration Opens

Fringe Meeting

Maximising the benefits:agriculture's role in natural resource protection hosted by Defra and Natural England Catchment Sensitive Farming.

Champagne Reception for the Pre-Conference Dinner

Kindly sponsored by Agrovista

Pre-Conference Dinner

Kindly sponsored by The Co-operative

John Humphrys, the BBC Radio 4 presenter, will bring his tenacious style to Oxford as the After Dinner Speaker

After Dinner Bar

Morning Prayer

Morning Prayer with Reverend Dr Gordon Gatward in the University College Chapel

Welcome and Chairman's introduction to the first session

Chairman: Christine Tacon, CBE

Precis of the 2011 Oxford Farming Conference Research 'The Value and Viability of UK Farming'

Kindly sponsored by Syngenta and Volac

Speaker: Cedric Porter

Building a strong and competitive food and farming sector

Speaker: Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP, Secretary of State for Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

The European perspective

Speaker: George Lyon, MEP, Liberal Democrat

Steering Irish agriculture through the economic downturn

Speaker: Brendan Smith TD, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Fianna Fail

Question Time

Panel:

• Rt Hon Caroline Spelman
• George Lyon MEP
• Brendan Smith TD
• Professor Allan Buckwell, CLA Policy Director

Chairman: Matt Dempsey, Editor and Chief Executive, Irish Farmers Journal

Coffee Break

A forecast population of 9bn: Realistic? Manageable? Sustainable?

Speaker: Professor Aubrey Manning, Emeritus Professor, Edinburgh University

Lunch

Global Perspective session

Kindly sponsored by Marfrig

Chairman: Professor Bill McKelvey

Global commodity markets, where are they heading?

Speaker: Jeffrey Currie, Global Head of Commodities Research, Goldman Sachs

Global food markets - the world is the market place

Speaker: Marcelo Secco, Commercial Director Frigorífico Tacuarembó-Marfrig SA, Uruguay

Farming with and without subsidies

Speaker: Jim McCarthy, CEO of Blue Yulan SA Luxembourg

Session close and tea

Sponsored by Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate

Debate in The Oxford Union

Kindly sponsored by Birketts LLP, Saffery Champness and Smiths Gore

Motion: This house believes unrestrained population growth and food security are incompatible.

Proposing: Jonathon Porritt CBE, Co-founder of Forum for the Future
Seconding: Angharad Evansstudying MSc in International Rural Development at RAC

Opposing: Sir Paul Judge, Chairman, Schroder Income Growth Fund plc
Seconding: Richard Thomas, Farmer & Chairman West Midlands Area YFC

Post Debate Supper at Christ Church College

Kindly sponsored by Birketts LLP, Saffery Champness and Smiths Gore

The early bird breakfast: Celebrating all that farming does for wildlife

Kindly sponsored by RSPB

New Technology Session – Maximising the Efficiency and minimising Environmental Impact

Chairman: William Gemmill

Water scarcity, does technology hold the key?

Speaker: Professor John S Boyer, E. I. du Pont Professor of Biochemistry/Biophysics Emeritus

Only clever science will yield crop results

Speaker: Bill Clark, Director of Broom’s Barn, Rothamsted Research

Where next for livestock innovation?

Speaker: Chris Warkup, Director, Biosciences KTN

Coffee break

High-tech horticulture sets the tone for the future

Speaker: Chris Mack, Executive Chairman of Fresca Group Ltd

Poultry innovations forge ahead for welfare, food chain and the environment

Speaker: David Speller, Applied Poultry & 2009 FW Poultry Farmer of the Year

Lunch

Inspiration session

Kindly sponsored by Waitrose

Chairman: Jane King

The OFC Research Results

OFC Research Results in detail

Triumph and adversity in Oxfordshire

Speaker: Charles Baker, RC Baker (Agricultural Contractors) Ltd

Managing change and making things happen

Speaker: John Shropshire OBE, CEO, Shropshire Group

Entrepreneurship in Scotland

Speaker: Gregor Mackintosh, Mackintosh of Glendaveny

The Frank Parkinson Lecture

Sponsored by The Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust

Challenges and Opportunities for European Agricultural Policy

Speaker: Dacian Cioloş, Member of the European Commission Responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development

Close and Tea

Kindly sponsored by Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate

Oxtail Club Dinner

Oxtail Club Dinner at the Worcester College