Happy New Year!
There's nothing like a good debate to get you back in the swing of things after Christmas! As seems to have become tradition for me and several others, 2012 kicks off with a trip down the A43 to spend a couple of days at the Oxford Farming Conference. It’s a great opportunity to meet with others in the agricultural community and listen to lively debate around the issues facing producers in the coming year. The more we can share information and expertise, the better the prospects for developing new and innovative ideas that work for farmers and farm wildlife – Oxford gives us a chance to start the New Year in a positive way, talking to farmers and celebrating the work of those stepping up and doing their bit on their farm, in particular the 2011 Nature of Farming Award participants.
The theme of this year’s conference is Agriculture: Tomorrow’s Power, and will consider the role of worldwide agriculture in producing affordable food, stimulating economic activity and protecting the environment. Our Conservation Director, Martin Harper, will be taking to the stage this afternoon to talk about how balancing agricultural production and conservation can be achieved, including real-life examples of where it’s working well.
Read more about Martin’s take on striking the balance here, and then throughout the week there will be a series of special guest bloggers having their say too. Join the debate and tell us what you think about what they have to say....
We’ll be posting lots more questions on the blog in 2012, and we’ll look forward to hearing your thoughts. Let us know if you have any questions too!