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SAC Students Join Agriculture’s Leading Lights at Oxford
Three, fourth year SAC students joined key figures in UK Farming at the 2012 Oxford Farming Conference. Taking place on the Wednesday and Thursday of the first week in January each year, OFC is a major event which has attracted internationally recognised speakers and a great deal of press interest for over a 65 year period.
This year the theme was “Agriculture - Tomorrows Power”. Among the speakers were the Chief Economist at the US Department of Agriculture, both the UK’s Secretary of State and Minister of Sate for Agriculture, DEFRA’s Chief Scientist, a range of farming entrepreneurs and Dr. Alan Renwick of SAC.
Over 650 attended the event, now held in the marbled vastness of the Examination Schools on Oxford’s High Street. Some were farmers, some financiers, some policy makers and many were representing farming organisations of various kinds. It was an ideal networking opportunity and the issues discussed at OFC often set the agenda for the rest of the year.
The 3 SAC “agriculture” students attending were sponsored by the SAC Trust Funds and the Edinburgh Agricultural Society. Colin Cameron is from Dalbrack Farm, Kilbryde by Dunblane, Andrew Clarkson is also at SAC Edinburgh and comes from Woodlands Farm Carmichael, Bigger. Aberdeen based Gregor Ingram’s family farm is Logie Durno at Inverurie.
Gregor found the whole conference a fantastic experience;
"Initially I found it difficult to speak to new people, but as the conference progressed I learned to just put myself out there if I was going to benefit. It gave me a unique insight into the politics of Agriculture and the process of change in legislation, highlighting the need for farmers to be vocal to get what they want in the future. It was great to see such a spirit among individuals about our industry, and allowed me too look at our business at home from outside the box an opportunity I would not have got if it was not for SAC".
For Colin Cameron OFC offered plenty of food for thought:
“I would like to have seen a larger number of practicing farmers at the conference, but after years of hearing about the ageing farm population I was encouraged by the number of questions raised on how to attract young people and new entrants into the industry. This was a particular theme at the separate, Scholars' Workshop , which sparked some interesting discussion on the subject and allowed the scholars to meet one another. With a number of meals and coffee breaks there was a chance to mix with a wide range of industry players and we took full advantage of these networking opportunities”.
Andrew Clarkson appreciated the insight it gave him:
"The talks by Jim Paice the Farming Minister and Shadow Spokesman Mary Creagh were among my highlights, and it was particularly reassuring that both political parties shared a very similar long term view. The more applied talks by farmers on their own businesses were also very interesting, especially Nigel Lok who spoke on his intensive dairy system in south Africa. I would certainly recommend the conference to future students, and I am sure that the experience will continue to benefit me in any future career".