Savills : Oxford Farming Conference offers a global perspective on agriculture

When the in-person Oxford Farming Conference was cancelled and the event moved online I was very disappointed, but I needn't have been. It was a fascinating couple of days with some truly inspirational speakers and absorbing topics. One session, 'The Farm of the Future', which looked into the family aspect of agriculture with perspectives from the US, China and EU, was of particular interest to me both in my capacity as a farming consultant and as part of a farming family.

It's very easy when living and breathing UK agriculture to become siloed in your thinking about farming practices and ways of working. We often hear about the bad weather in Australia, its effect on wheat production and the subsequent impact on the global price, but personally I have never really stopped to think about how they farm and what type of business structure they have in place.

From listening to the conference and hearing from other ownership structures across the world, it's clear that family ownership is not the only model for farming and there are undoubted lessons to be learned.

Look at China, for example, where individuals of the Shouguang area make up a community of farmers producing vegetables for more than 60 million people. These farmers live in the city and own a greenhouse in the countryside which forms part of a huge expanse of land under glass. Each day the farmers commute to the world's largest area of greenhouse farms - could you imagine commuting 30 minutes each way to your farm in the UK and farming with your next door neighbour who is only separated from you by a wall of glass?

Family farming ownership is the most common ownership type in the UK and some believe a move away from this structure would be damaging to the sector, whereas in reality it could bring opportunity. Changes to farming structures could enable a greater influx of a new generation of farmers who are not tied to family farm traditions and who bring new approaches.

The overarching theme for this year's conference was 'Route to Resilience', and a number of the sessions touched upon the need to future proof farming businesses and build in resilience in order to be able to adapt to the numerous challenges the sector is currently facing.

I learnt a great deal from this year's Oxford Farming Conference despite my initial reservations about it being online. I am already looking forward to next year's when Emily Norton, head of our rural research team, will be its chair.

Further information

Contact Hamish Logan

Savills Food & Farming