Vibrant AgrichatUK session on Oxford 2015 report

Last night, #AgrichatUK hosted a fast and furious session on Twitter about the 2015 OFC report. The session, which ran from 8-10pm on Thursday 22 January, focused on the report content - how competitiveness are British farmers? The report was produced by The Andersons Centre and sponsored by Burges Salmon, HSBC and Syngenta.

"Over the two hours, 853 tweets were sent by 138 users, giving a total timeline delivery of 2.77m; it was one of the best attended #Agrichat sessions," said Jane Craigie, OFC's marketing advisor. "There were some really useful contributions - which is a real challenge given the limited space you have in a tweet for meaningful comment!"

Last night's #AgrichatUK host, Edwina Mullins, said: “We had a very constructive debate on the competitiveness of British farming in a global marketplace, motivated by the OFC’s 2015 report on what gives the best of British farms the edge.  Thank you to all OFC members that were involved in the #AgrichatUK discussion.”

The questions asked included how can British farmers become more competitive? What technologies or business changes could improve British farming's competitiveness? Young farmers are more entrepreneurial - do you agree? Will UK agriculture still have the edge if we leave the EU? How does the industry handle the bottom 25%?

Some of the standout tweets are listed below:

Martin Davies @RMDzone1farming (OFC director, City farmer, Nuffield Scholar): "does any other industry worry about survival of bottom 25%? Target support to areas where needed. Let market forces prevail." AND: "non farming investors in land conditional APR, 100% relief only if land purchased provides opportunities for new entrants."

Robert Lasseter @LasseterRobert (OFC director, Pig & arable farmer, Wessex Grain director): "Our competitors are those we import from (like the Irish).We must study their form and outpace them."

Charles Tassell @FarmInKent (AgrichatUK co-founder and farmer) "Low interest rates and ageing farming population, makes a good opportunity for YF’s to form Start Ups. Many are.

Andy Newbold @andynewbold (Farm Smart Events): "entrepreneurial spirit is attitude not age, although as "salad years" depart my own risk attitude differs

John Henning @johnhenningmoo (Agri-banker and Nuffield Scholar): "Focus knowledge transfer / exchange on top 25% with innovative ways needed to engage & improve the middle 50%."

Ally Hunter Blair @wyefarm (young farmer and Channel 4 First Time Farmer):  "I'd say when the going gets tough that farms in the "bottom" 25% are more likely to stick it out than others."

Rob Lillywhite @robdlillywhite (researcher at Warwick Crop Centre): "The bottom 25% have different motivation and ambition to the top 25%. They add value in different ways, soil protection etc

Phil Latham @PhilLatham (angry dairy farmer, frustrated by bTB): "in response to fragmentation didn't Nz create a single desk seller to create strength for NZ dairy farmers,we might use POs "

James Robinson @JRfromStrickley (Organic 5th generation dairy farmer): "Mr Farage would have us believe that we'd be better off out of the EU. That's reason enough to want to stay in."

Johann Tasker @johanntasker (Farmers Weekly Chief Reporter): "I can't see an out-of-EU UK government underwriting farm subsidies to the same extent Brussels does now

Geoff Mackey @geoffmackey1 (works for BASF): "Apart from the market if we leave the EU do we think the @hmtreasury will continue supporting the industry

Roddy Maclean @McleanRoddy (Agri-banker): "what about true new entrants they often come with more entrepreneurial spirit & challenge existing practices #openminds

Gareth Barlow @garethbarlow (Present BBC Yorkshire Farming Programme). "However, never. Never! Underestimate the knowledge and prowess of older generations, they've done it all