The Oxford Farming Conference

A Climate of Change: Agriculture - the solution not the problem

Speakers: * Professor Myles Allen - Professor of Geosystem Science & Leader of the Climate Research Programme * Professor Richard Pywell - Senior Principal Scientist at the NERC Centre for Ecology * Andrew Voysey - Head of Business and Government Solutions at Soil Capital Chair: Andrew Pitts, OFC Director and Farmer

Carbon, the future of its trading and the potential for farmers earning from sequestration are hot topics and was central to this #OFCBitesize. How farming measures carbon, captures it and values it, is still under discussion, but we already know it offers a big opportunity for the future of farming and future resilience. Farmers have the ability to produce food and capture carbon using the sun’s free energy.

During this #OFCBitesize we asked our panel to explore the modelling tools that are needed to make this possible, where carbon comes from and how farming can sell carbon to produce a financial return. Does agriculture need the support of the public purse or can farmers gain from the commercial carbon markets without Government support? How do farms maintain ownership of carbon? Could cooperation models be part of the solution? And how could the industry ensure that it is working as one?