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Date: 5th January 2009 Three new directors have been selected to join the board of the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) subject to approval at the next AGM in January 2009, bringing a food chain specialist, large-scale farmer and eminent vet to the farming calendar’s biggest conference. For the first time in the Conference’s history, applications were invited to fill the new Director posts who will take up their duties in January 2009. Announcing the new appointments, OFC 2009 Chairman Teresa Wickham said: “I’m really pleased to welcome our new Directors; Professor Bill McKelvey, Chief Executive and Principal of The Scottish Agricultural College (SAC); Robert Law who farms near Royston and Cedric Porter, a farm to food chain consultant and the ex-editor of Farm Business. “All Council Directors give up their time voluntarily to deliver the vibrancy and interest for which Oxford has become renowned, and Bill, Robert and Cedric will be very valuable additions to the team bringing with them a diverse range of backgrounds, ideas and contacts which are essential contributions for us to continue to deliver a forward-looking and respected conference,” she adds. “I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to apply - they made up a very high calibre list of people to select from.” Details of the three new Directors are listed below.
Professor Bill McKelvey
Bill is Chief Executive & Principal of SAC (the Scottish Agricultural College) and holds the Chair in Agriculture at Glasgow University. Bill is a veterinary surgeon by profession, having worked in general veterinary practice before holding academic research positions at both the Rowett and the Macaulay Institutes. In SAC he headed up the Veterinary Services Group and Corporate Operations before taking up the post of Chief Executive & Principal in 2002. He has served on various government advisory bodies, including the Cabinet Secretary's Agricultural Strategy Group and the Scottish Animal Health & Welfare Strategy Group. SAC has an annual turnover of around £45m per annum and employs 850 staff involved in applied research for the land-based industries, consultancy for farm businesses and landowners and education for students in the agricultural, environmental and social sciences. Cedric Porter
Cedric Porter is managing director and founder of Supply Intelligence, a consultancy that assists retailers, food processors and investors develop agricultural supply arrangements and relationships. Until recently he was the editor of Farm Business magazine, a leading UK food and farming management and marketing magazine. He has also edited Dutch-based Meat International magazine. Cedric grew up and worked on a Hampshire farm, before studying agriculture and journalism. He was a member of the 2006 Institute of Agricultural Management’s Leadership course and sits on the LEAF policy committee. He is also a regular speaker at conferences and commentator on UK and world agriculture. Robert Law
Robert farms 3,500 acres on the Herts/ Cambs/ Essex borders as well as managing a further 1200 acres in Nottinghamshire and an involvement with an estate in Invernesshire, Scotland. The farming business in Hertfordshire is mixed. Livestock includes a 2,500 ewe breeding flock with up to a further 3,000 store lambs bought in for winter finishing. Arable crops extend to 3000 acres being mainly cereals with Sugar Beet. Robert is a first generation farmer, he studied Agricultural Marketing and Business studies at Harper Adams Agricultural College and then won a travel award to study farming in Australia and New Zealand. He returned to manage his present farm in 1981 before starting to farm it in his own right in 1988. Since then he has expanded his farming business to its present size through purchasing land, share farming, renting and management agreements. Robert is a NFU Sugar Board member as well as a Regional Livestock Board member. He is chairman of the Conservation Grade advisory committee. In 2006 he won the Farmers Weekly 'Farmer of the Year’ award.
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