Sixteen years ago, Ruth West, Colin Tudge, and a band of renegades founded the Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) as a challenging alternative to the 90-year-old, more conventional Oxford Farming Conference, held 500m down the road during the same two days in January. The challenger has more poetry, music, and women, and fewer suits, gilets, and brogues; there is more discussion of ecology and inclusion, and less of maximising profits. ORFC has become the largest sustainable farming conference in the world. Like many, I returned to my farm this year with new ideas, feeling bolstered and proud to be part of a growing tribe; a tribe that, given a little support, would shape a better future for farming.
Many of the 150+ sessions will be available online (as video or audio) before the end of February. There is a great breadth of topics, but my own favourites tend to be more technical. A session by the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) described the spread of integrated pest management (IPM) on cotton farms, as an alternative to the massive use of chemicals on what has been called “the world’s dirtiest crop”.
In particular, “food sprays” are being used, made from brewers’ waste or maize. When sprayed on cotton, they mimic the fluids released by pest insects, thereby attracting predatory insects. If combined with careful monitoring, interplanting crops such as lucerne to attract and support further natural predators, and occasional use of locally made pesticides such as neem (a tree oil), this approach can be as effective as chemicals – while protecting the environment and hugely reducing pesticide poisoning among farmers. Plus, financial returns to farmers who use IPM are 30 per cent higher than to those using chemical sprays. If this sounds too good to be true, you can read more about PAN’s work, via the link below.
After WW2, agriculture went through a period of rapid development known as the Green Revolution. Contrary to the name, this was high tech, corporate driven, and chemical dependent. What could we have achieved if the same resources had been invested in this sort of complex, knowledge-intensive (rather than input-intensive), agroecological farming instead? We could have protected biodiversity, as well as the health and autonomy of farmers, without sacrificing crop yields. There is still a window of opportunity – and with the help of the ORFC and its supporters, it may not be too late.
Learn more and download PAN’s Food Spray Manual, here.
From the end of February 2025, you can watch recorded sessions from this year’s ORFC, at Oxford Real Farming Conference
Image c/o PAN, shows a farmer using the food spray technique to encourage beneficial insects (predators) into the cotton fields to prey on pests.
Our News from the Farm posts come from Riverford. They are the digital versions of the printed letters which go out to customers, every week via Riverford’s veg boxes. Guy Singh-Watson’s weekly newsletters connect people to the farm with refreshingly honest accounts of the trials and tribulations of producing organic food, and the occasional rant about farming, ethical and business issues he feels strongly about.
The ORFC and its growing community prove that another way is not only possible but essential. It’s inspiring to see solutions which protect biodiversity and deliver financial returns, demonstrating what sustainability can provide.
I agree, imagine what could have been achieved if we’d invested the same resources in knowledge-intensive, ecological methods instead.
The window is narrow, but with the work of ORFC and its champions keeping this conversation alive, there’s hope that people will finally stand up and demand change before it’s too late.