Every year, the Oxford farming conferences present an opportunity to look ahead to the year’s critical challenges around food, farming and the countryside. This year, discussions around land use were high on the agenda with the publication of a Land Use Framework anticipated in 2023.

At OFC, an important conversation about land use was chaired by Sue Pritchard and included Dame Fiona Reynolds, Liz Bowles, Professor John Gilliland and Rachel Fisher as panellists – with contributions from other key people in the room including Dame Glenys Stacey, Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection and Baroness Rock, Chair of the Rock Report, and senior advisors from NFU and CLA. The next day, Professor Sir Charles Godfray referenced the Land Use Framework in his OFC session, and gave a taster of the upcoming Royal Society report on multifunctional land use to be published at the start of February.

Both conferences reflected the growing momentum around an agroecological transition. At the Oxford Real Farming Conference, FFCC convened key actors charting innovative finance for the transition - and joined RSPB and the Nature Friendly Farming Network in exploring how land use policy can translate on-farm.

As ever, the conferences were a great opportunity to reflect on progress so far and focus on critical next steps as we plan our programme of work for the next phase of FFCC’s life.

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