Speakers: Anna Jones, Dee Woods, Jade Bashford, Liis Nukis

Chair: Bonnie VandeSteeg

There is no doubt that there is a ruralurban divide, expressed in terms of culture, life experiences, perceptions, or political outlook. However, if we are to create a just, sustainable and secure food system then we need food growers in rural areas to find common cause with those who buy the food, most of whom live in urban areas. This session will look at initiatives which are helping to overcome the divide, thus contributing to a united food movement with growers and eaters, rural and urban residents coming together in a shared understanding.

ORFC2025 Bridging The Rural-Urban Divide: Building Common Ground

Speakers: Carrie Starbuck, Georgina Cockett, SJ Hunt, David McAuley
Chair: Sophie Robinson

In parts of the UK, certain deer species have grown out of balance with their
environment and are damaging crops and hampering biodiversity regeneration
efforts. This session explores how informed, collaborative and responsible deer
management can protect land and wildlife while offering a sustainable, ethical,
and environmentally-friendly food product. We will discuss a multi-system
approach which could help to rebalance deer numbers and get more venison on
the table. From direct to consumer sales to venison in canteens and food banks,
our speakers will model both the problem and the solution using the results of
their projects.


ORFC 2026 - Venison: Quality Meat With A Positive Impact

Facilitators: Sareta Puri, Nicola Scott

This interactive, solutions focused workshop tackles urgent land access
challenges faced by Black and people of colour (BPOC) farmers in the UK, a topic
rarely explored in mainstream agricultural debates. Co-facilitators will introduce
three policy ideas, inspired by reparative approaches like community land trusts,
basic income models and innovative funding models. Participants will co-create
and refine one actionable policy proposal, leaving with practical, justice-centred
solutions. This session is unique in combining hands-on collaboration,
policy-driven outcomes and coalition-building, making it highly relevant for ORFC
attendees seeking to transform the UK food and farming sector.

ORFC 2026 - WORKSHOP: Land Access Solutions For BPOC Farmers

Speakers: John Atkinson, Claire Whittle
Chair: Christopher Price

Explore traditional farming skills — like walling, shearing, hoof care, and hedge
laying — and discover how they support native livestock breeds. These endangered
crafts are vital for sustainable, resilient farming, helping to protect biodiversity,
preserve cultural heritage, and sustain rural livelihoods. Join us to reconnect with
the land, learn hands-on techniques, and be part of keeping these traditions alive
for a thriving, future-ready countryside.

ORFC 2026 - Roots And Revival: Breeds And Skills

Speakers: Carmen Posada Monroy, Clemmie James

From the origins of the coca plant in the Amazon Basin, to transit regions in Brazil
and Africa, to destination markets in Europe, the historic prohibition of Coca and
Cocaine has created a multi-billion dollar illegal market that causes
environmental harm and hinders climate justice. However, reforms towards a
legally regulated market are now being designed around the world. This session
will explore how reforms to current drug policy could deliver agroecology, restore
Indigenous rights and deliver sustainable livelihoods if collectively designed with
those most impacted by the current harms of prohibition.

ORFC 2026 - The Ecological Impacts Of Prohibiting The Coca Leaf And Cocaine

Speakers: Andy Bragg, Michael Leddy, Ali Jeffery
Chair: Suzy Russell

For years you’ve been managing and farming the family farm or your
well-established CSA or market garden… but then what? Have you thought about
succession? On top of economic struggles we are also seeing larger farms, market
gardens and CSAs struggle because succession hasn't been thought through. This
session will explore the whys and wherefores of succession planning. You’ll hear
from three people with three very different examples of how it can be done and
explore the various ways we can mitigate against a negative impact when the
time comes for you to move on or retire.

ORFC 2026 - Succession Planning For Your Farm: What Happens Next?

Speaker: Merlin Hanbury-Tenison
Chair: Fiona Mountain

Merlin Hanbury-Tenison discusses his highly acclaimed book, Our Oaken Bones,
with Fiona Mountain. Struggling with mental health, Merlin and his wife Lizzie
leave the bustle of London and return home to a Cornish hill farm, where they
discover that the damaged woods surrounding the farm are one of the UK’s last
fragments of temperate rainforest. As they fall more in love with the rainforest, so
begins a fight to save themselves, their farm and one of the world’s most
endangered habitats. Merlin is a Cornish conservationist and veteran who
founded The Thousand Year Trust, Britain’s rainforest charity

ORFC 2026 - BOOK TALK: Rainforest Restoration And Healing

Speakers: Lyla June, Sagaravajra, Benedict Pollard, Ninian Stuart
Chair: Rachel Fleming

Listening to the land has encouraged farmers, growers and land owners to steward
land in different ways, often bringing ancient technologies and traditions back
into contemporary use. We talk to some of those people who are opening their land
or their growing practice up to ceremony, community, story and to a more
reciprocal and integrated relationship between humans and place.

ORFC 2026 - Listening To The Land Stewards

Speaker: Jasminka Iličić
Chair: Bridgette Olsen

Join Jasminka Iličić and Bridgette Olsen as they show you with examples from
around the world how with biodynamic agriculture we can create soil structure,
increase humus, improve water retention and prevent soil erosion. All while
providing tasty, vital and high quality products. Jasminka will bring the
experience of her vegetable, herb and flower farm in Croatia and Bridgette her
knowledge in the use of biodynamic preparations and experience as a Demeter
inspector — the international trademark for biodynamic quality. Hear their stories,
and discover how to apply these effective methods to enliven soils on your farm.

ORFC 2026 - Biodynamics: Stories Of Soil Restoration From Croatia And Italy

Speaker: Pania Newton

This session shares the journey of #ProtectIhumātao, a movement led by Pania
and her whānau (family) to protect their ancestral land in Ihumātao, once central
to feeding their people and the growing city of Auckland, New Zealand. What began
as resistance to development has evolved into a living model of Indigenous-led
land regeneration and food sovereignty. Pania will touch on their 200-year vision
to restore wetlands, re-establish native forests, and cultivate whānau-led food
enterprises. Grounded in Māori growing cosmologies, this session explores how
ancestral knowledge guides approaches to regenerative food systems, climate
and intergenerational wellbeing.

ORFC2025 Bridging The Rural-Urban Divide: Building Common Ground

Oxford Real Farming Conference

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