Sheena Horner announced as Chair of Oxford Farming Conference 2027, with call for food and farming sector to work in greater harmony

Sheena Horner has been announced as Chair of the 2027 Oxford Farming Conference (OFC27), bringing experience that has spanned agricultural policy, livestock marketing, conservation, rural community support and food supply chain engagement. 

A farmer’s daughter from near Wigtown, Sheena grew up on a beef and game-rearing farm in Dumfries and Galloway and has built a career connecting people and organisations across farming, food and the rural economy. 

Sheena has chosen “Harmony” as the theme for OFC27, taking place from 6th to 8th January 2027, and is calling on the food and farming sector to break down silos, share knowledge and work better together. 

The theme reflects her long-held belief that closer collaboration across different farming systems, sectors and viewpoints can create a stronger, more resilient food system. 

“I have always been vocally frustrated by the number of silos in food and farming,” says Sheena. “There are so many people doing really great things, but it would benefit everybody if we could collaborate and work better together. 

“We have organic and regenerative farming, arable, dairy, livestock and horticulture, alongside processors, retailers, researchers, policymakers and environmental organisations. We may approach things differently, but ultimately, we are all part of the same food system.” 

The conference comes at a time of continued turbulence for farming and food businesses, shaped by global market pressures, conflict, political change, climate challenges and increasingly polarised public debate. Against this backdrop, OFC27 will explore how greater cohesion across the industry can help build stability, resilience and sustainability for businesses, people and the environment. 

The programme will draw together the many threads that shape the sector, including people and relationships, land use and the environment, global trade and policy, technology, science and the future of food production. 

Sheena says the aim is for delegates to leave Oxford uplifted, but also challenged to think differently about how they work with others. 

“I hope delegates will leave re-energised, as they normally do from Oxford,” she says. “But I would also like them to leave thinking about how they could work more harmoniously. 

“Are they doing things already that they could be sharing with others? Have they learned something they could take away and use? Could they work better with people they have not worked with before?”. 

Sheena left the family farm at 17 to go to college before working for the Scottish Department of Agriculture and then to Harrison and Hetherington, the UK’s largest livestock trading company. She was later seconded to Defra during the Foot and Mouth crisis and went on to become a wildlife adviser with Natural England. 

After taking voluntary redundancy from Natural England, she returned home to Dumfries and Galloway to fully commit to her own business interests, including Galloway Chillies and her consultancy, Food from Farming, which seeks to bridge the gap between production and consumption. 

Sheena’s wider roles include Chair of Just Farmers, National Manager for Scotland at The Farming Community Network, Trustee of the Solway Firth Partnership, Vice-Chair of The Crichton Trust and Trustee of the DPJ Foundation. Through Food from Farming, she is also Business Manager of the Dumfries and Galloway Regional Food Group, sits on the regional Local Employability Partnership and is a member of the Scottish Food and Drink Skills Advisory Group. 

Sheena sees OFC’s ability to connect people as one of its greatest strengths, with some of the most valuable exchanges happening beyond the formal programme.  

“It is not just the speakers,” she says. “It is the debate, the setting, the dinners and the networking. You just do not know who you are going to end up sitting beside and where that conversation is going to go. 

Sheena first attended OFC in 2018 and joined its Council as a Director for the 2025 conference. She says it remains one of the best ways for the sector to start the year.  

“Everybody talks about the January blues, but when you go to OFC you come away re-energised and ready to attack the year,” she says. “It is still a pinch-me moment that I am now chairing the 2027 conference.” 

Sheena hopes OFC27 will welcome familiar faces alongside a new generation of delegates. 

“There are so many opportunities to come to Oxford and engage with us. I hope people leave with a new idea, a new contact or something that makes them think differently.” 

The OFC Council is now considering the topics that will shape the 2027 programme, with an agenda designed to deliver the challenging discussion, fresh thinking, strong debate, new connections and uplifting start to the year that delegates value. 

The Oxford Farming Conference will take place from 6th to 8th January 2027.