This year’s Oxford Farming Conference was given the prestigious title of “Opportunity Agriculture”. This Political Session was well attended by dignitaries from across the Europe. Some of the high-flying speakers of the occasion were Commissioner from EU farm Mr. Dacian Ciolos and UK National Farmers Union’s present head Peter Kendall. Farm Ministers from UK and Ireland, namely Mr. Owen Paterson and Mr. Simon Coveney also attended the occasion.
Massey Ferguson has a commitment towards bringing innovation to the farming technology and bringing forth fresh talent of farmers. Ciolos (EU farm commissioner) said that Common Agricultural Policy has equal commitment toward lifting the strains on farmers and like emphasis on protecting the environment. This will encourage new farmers to enter in this arena.
The general impression, as stated in the words of Dacian Ciolos, is that “The public expect that in return for support, farmers should help protect wildlife and maintain rural life”. CAP is attended by members from 28 member countries of European Union and thus it is far from possible that a unanimous decision can be reached by them; still it does not ignore the fact that there is a dire need for a set of common principles that should be followed by the farming community that operated under their instructions.
Limelight of the Oxford Farming Conference was Mr. Peter Kendall who has worked in the capacity of NFU president since 2006. He is retiring in the coming month of February. He also reiterated the fact that is a near impossibility that all the members will collectively agree to a common policy. His recommendation was that there should be an effort to centralize the issues regarding food production all across the globe. The remaining matters like environmental issues and social concerns of the farmers should be left at the hands of each government because they are in a better position to understand these factors for their own farmers.
The Farm Minister of Ireland, Mr. Coveney elaborated on the vitality of farming to Ireland as he mentioned the fact that there was a job pool of 58,000 people in Ireland during 2013, and almost half of these job roles came from agriculture sector. This is the importance of farming and agriculture in the economy of Ireland. Massey Ferguson has always encouraged young talent to enter this field and fill the void with their renewed enthusiasm and high spirits.
As the head of UK National Farmer Union Mr. Kendall spoke, he iterated the commitment of UK government to boost agricultural technology and related sciences. He expressed this fact in these words: “We are spending £160 million on our AgriTech strategy”. He also highlighted the importance of Buy British campaign as he acknowledged the fact that almost 40% of UK’s food consumption is imported from outside.
Her highness, The Princess Royal, daughter of the Queen, was also present at the conference. She heads the “Vision of the Future” which is a known community of farmers who are blended newer technology with older methods and bringing awareness to the public at large.
Oxford Farming Conference for 2014 recently held at UK and I have shared the highlighted conference matters. The whole bunch of information is gathered from the Massey Ferguson and OFC websites.