With such a diverse range of speakers from so many unique branches of the agroecology world, it would be impossible to narrow all of ORFC24’s sessions down to a simple ‘Top 10 Highlights’ list.
That said, as the programme for ORFC25 starts to take shape, our organisational calendars start to fill, and the general ticket release fast approaches, in no particular order, we’ve decided to showcase ten popular sessions from the previous year to get ourselves excited for the upcoming conference.
This offers a stimulating chance to revisit some key lessons learned from last year, helping us to stay mindful, present, and focused in the world of agroecology as we move into the harvest season.
#1) From Corporations to Communities: Tipping the Balance of Power in Decision-Making about our Food
Our most live streamed session from ORFC24, this panel discussion delved into a deep exploration of how agri-food corporations control what we grow and eat, highlighting deep power asymmetries in food system governance that are blocking the transformation we need.
With a panel consisting of experts on regional struggles in Africa and the UK as well as global struggles in international decision-making spaces, the participants examine the history of how such cooperate overreach came to be, shine light who really controls agri-food policy and regulatory decisions today, and propose actionable mechanisms and alternative spaces to recapture food system decision-making for the public interest.
#2) Agrobiodiversity for the Survival of our Food System
In the face of widespread soil degradation and biodiversity loss from many decades of industrialised agriculture, shifting from using only a few specialised crops and animals to a system with greater agrobiodiversity could provide the resilience necessary for the survival of our food system.
In this session, a panel of grassroots landworkers, food-makers, and seed savers explore how agrobiodiversity can play a uniquely positive role in influencing not only what we grow and eat, but also in strengthening and diversifying the communities and ecosystems surrounding food, of which we are all a part of.
#3) Perennial Veg: Promise and Propagation
Perennial vegetables, meaning those which can be harvested year after year, are popular amongst home gardeners and allotmenteers but uncommon among commercial veg growers.
Riverford founder Guy Singh-Watson, Incredible Vegetables founder Mandy Barber, and Senior Certification Officer for the Soil Association Tom Hartley explore the potential of perennials, including the diverse options available and micropropagation as a possible means to increase production in a commercial setting.
#4) Soil Health At Scale
In this discussion, two passionate soil enthusiasts tackle the challenges involved in scaling up soil health principles, with many farmers looking to stop ploughing but still relying on chemical weed killers, and those unwilling to use chemical weed killers still relying on ploughing.
This is closely followed by an analysis from the neutral perspective of the Environment Agency’s soil expert, who witnesses and has to deal with the end results of soil erosion and different management practices.
#5) The role of Agroecological Farming in the Transition to Net Zero
During this discussion, the expert panel call attention to the key role that Agroecological Farming can play as a substantial means of emissions reduction often overlooked by policy makers, with focus placed on how to overcome existing barriers in the scaling up of low-carbon farming methods.
Topics such as improving the provision of and access to local food through mobilising communities, strengthening the law to support the agroecological transition, and priorities for delivering on the UK’s domestic and international climate commitments are explored. The panel also considers the Climate Change Committee’s desk research on Agroecology and Net Zero.
#6) Demonstrating Leadership through Local Authorities
This session explores the vital role local governments play in driving food system change across the UK.
The panel illustrates how this can be done through planning policies and regulations, promoting sustainable agriculture and building opportunities to share knowledge and local buy-in for new technologies. Time is also taken to outline how local governments can create opportunities for new routes to market, the importance of supporting local food economies, and the relevance of food partnerships, with a focus on differences between rural and urban authorities and how to improve rural-urban connections.
#7) What Role for Grazing Livestock in a Warming World?
Reducing livestock production in the UK is commonly cited as a means of tackling climate change by reducing emissions from agriculture.
However, in this panel, participants with a depth of practical and scientific experience in livestock farming explore the multiple social and environmental benefits that well-managed grasslands and grazing systems can provide, proposing that ruminants can play a significant role in a climate-friendly UK food system though biodiversity benefits and carbon sequestration. The panellists propose that reductions shouldn’t be focused on extensive grazing livestock, but rather on unsustainable intensive livestock farms.
#8) Agri-spin: How Big Industry Influences Food and Farming Policy
Massive corporate agricultural unions and agribusiness companies make big claims about representing the interests of nearly all farmers, but to what extent do they actually lobby in the interest of the average farmer?
In this discussion, the panellists dissect the misleading narratives pushed by big ag’s powerful PR machine, exposing how tried and tested corporate tactics are used to seed doubt in agroecological principals and work against animal welfare laws, worker’s rights, environmental protection, and the wellbeing of rural communities. The panel, consisting of investigative journalists and scientists, then provide the tools needed to unpick these false narratives, whilst stressing the importance of ensuring that the right information reaches the ears of decision-makers.
#9) Farm Deep Dive with Rebecca Mayhew
In this in depth account of a single farm, we hear from Rebecca Mayhew, who alongside her husband, Stuart and their two children, owns Old Hall Farm in South Norfolk. Rebecca and Stuart have converted a once intensively farmed pork unit covering 500 acres into a regenerative oasis.
The farm now has multiple farming enterprises, including a 60-head Jersey herd producing raw milk that is sold locally and nationally and within which the calves are kept ‘at foot’, a suckler herd, sheep, pigs, goats and laying hens. The family have also successfully developed an award-winning farm shop and cafe, as well as a butchery and vineyard. Central to their transition was Holistic Management Training, which they completed in 2020. Rebecca articulates the challenges and rewards of rapid change, multiple enterprises, and farming with family.
#10) Influencing Farm Policy in Every Nation of the UK
The move away from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) since Brexit has represented a golden opportunity to reinvent agricultural policy for a greener future. Since food and farming policy is devolved, each nation has come up with its own agri-environmental schemes.
Whether it be AECS, ELMS, SFS, or EFS, the core principles remain the same – public money for public goods. The past few years have not been an easy ride, with delays, mistakes and changes to the various schemes. Despite these stumbling blocks, ambitious agri-environmental schemes have the potential to transform our farmed landscape into one which delivers for nature and for farmers.
During this panel discussion, four farmers across the devolved nations discuss their viewpoints on the current policy landscape for farming, before looking ahead and exploring how policy could be improved.
What Next?
We hope that revisiting some of these talks might have reignited some interests, curiosities, or helped to shape which topics you want to explore further at ORFC25. We have certainly enjoyed listening back to them whilst writing this blog post. Yet, they are just the tip of the iceberg.
You can explore many more OFRC sessions from past years via the ORFC archive, all of which is free to access, and also available via our Youtube Channel and Soundcloud.
We can’t wait to see what sort of engaging discussions and keynote sessions lie ahead at ORFC25. Tickets are expected to go on sale in late September.