News stories Fieldfare - RSPB

News stories

Cuts and commitments: The Spending Review and the environment

• Down and out in Paris?

• Flies cast in a new light

• EU Directives under attack

Fieldfare Autumn 2015

25-40% cuts, our number-crunching suggests that this can only be done at the expense of some key promises. Never has the phrase “put your money where your mouth is” been more pertinent.

Readers across these islands – and its wildlife – clearly have a stake in the outcome of this autumn review. The largely devolved nature of agricultural and environmental policy however, means that decisions made in Westminster will often be secondary to those made in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast. As a single organisation working to influence policy across the UK, the EU and globally, the RSPB has some intriguing challenges as a result, especially as the different political contexts continue to diverge. Despite these differences, there are some recurring themes. The deregulation agenda common to many of the articles in this issue continues to spread. With deregulation initiatives cropping up all over the place, it can no longer be assumed that public interest is central to decision-making. Different governments seem intent on pursuing a narrow view of “competitive advantage”.

As any farmer worth their salt knows, you can’t out-compete your rivals by trashing your natural capital. Learning these simple lessons and translating them into policy will be critical over the coming years. A central challenge for organisations like the RSPB, working for the public interest in a multi-polar world, will be how to prevent a decline to the lowest common denominator, and instead encourage a race to the top.

Mike Clarke, Chief Executive


Welcome

Since the last issue of Fieldfare, the UK Government has completed its first few months in office. With the Prime Minister likening the Conservative manifesto to the “Good Book”, we can only hope that he’ll go about delivering the positive environmental policies that it contains with zeal.

While it may not still be around in 2,000 years’ time, the Government’s manifesto does contain some welcome pledges. With commitments to spend £3 billion on the environment through the Common Agricultural Policy, to developing a 25-year plan to restore biodiversity and to maintain protection for SSSIs and other

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Cuts and commitments: nature, the manifesto and the Spending Review As the Government settles in at Westminster, RSPB Chief Executive Mike Clarke reflects on its record so far, and looks ahead to what the future might hold.

designated areas, there is a framework that should allow for some positive steps forward over the coming years.

Many of these commitments chime with our work on land use covered in the pages of Fieldfare. With our energy currently turned toward defending Europe’s Nature Directives, it’s heartening to see a recognition of the important role that protected areas play in enhancing our natural capital. I’m sure the Secretary of State Liz Truss would also be interested to read the opinion piece in this issue on pollinators, which highlights the importance of a whole range of different invertebrate groups in pollinating our crops.

Some promising signs then, but only a few months into a five-year parliament, it’s too early to bring out the English sparkling wine. As we head further into autumn, the outcome of the current Comprehensive Spending Review will determine whether David Cameron can honour his pledge to deliver the Conservative manifesto “in full” . With Government departments being asked by the Chancellor to make

Lowland wet grassland is one of the key habitats protected by SSSIs.

Fieldfare news Autumn 2015 3

News stories

CAP rules are doublespeak

On the one hand, farmers are encouraged to manage or create habitats in a way that will benefit a range of species. Many receive funding through one part of the CAP, known as Pillar II, or Rural Development, to do just this. On the other hand, payments they receive from another part of the CAP, known as Pillar I, often treat these same habitats as “ineligible”. As a consequence, managing habitats such as scrub sensitively can often come with a financial penalty, as such habitats can reduce a farmer’s eligible area, and therefore their income from subsidies.

With this in mind, imagine you are a farmer who decides to create some wet features, such as scrapes for breeding waders, or retain and sensitively manage areas of scrub, critical to species such as the turtle dove and yellowhammer.

Then, the inspector from the Government’s paying agency turns up, and tells you that these areas are no longer eligible for subsidy payments, because they do not meet the

European Commission’s definition of “Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition”. Too often, the eligibility rules for Pillar I payments present unnecessary barriers, often contradicting the aims of Pillar II schemes.

Fewer things seem to infuriate farmers more than this sort of inconsistency. We ask them to manage these areas for nature, selling the benefits for their farm, for wildlife and for society. Then they have to deal with the rigmarole of justifying why these areas should still be eligible for subsidies, or face losing sometimes significant amounts of money. For many, this issue can become a tipping point, with anecdotal reports of farmers losing their patience with a policy that makes it too hard for them to do the right thing for the environment.

And the consequences are not just of relevance to policy wonks. It can and does lead to farmers removing trees as “ineligible”, as happened in Wales earlier this year. It can mean that it is harder to manage scrub sensitively

without living in fear of the impact on farm income. It makes it more difficult to persuade land managers to create habitats such as reedbeds, or to restore upland blanket bog, because these wetter areas may not meet the rules of the subsidy payment.

If we are to meet the challenge of restoring nature within a generation, we need to make it as easy as possible, given the magnitude of the task at hand. These eligibility rules make a difficult job even harder. Looking ahead to the next reform of the CAP or any reviews that may happen in the meantime, sorting out this kind of perverse inconsistency should be a top priority for anyone with an interest in farm wildlife.

For more informationcontact Tom Lancaster: [email protected]

Exceedingly dry but exceptionally important eligibility rules associated with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are becoming a real headache.

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Eligibility rules can often present an unnecessary barrier to the conservation of habitats such as ffridd in Wales, pictured here.


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Boom and bustAt the beginning of this year, wheat prices were tumbling due to a world oversupply. Prices began to rally slightly, as concerns about weather in the northern hemisphere reduced harvest predictions. Prices could rise still further if predictions of global grain supply disruption due to El Niño come to pass.

How should the UK respond to such volatile and unpredictable markets? The Government focus has been on increasing production, saying this is essential to ensure food security. Is this correct? Despite lower harvest outlooks, the UK looks likely to produce an exportable surplus of more than two million tonnes in 20151 which it will need to sell in competition with lower cost producers. Today’s food security challenges are not due to lack of food but issues of inequality in access to food, waste in the food chain, malnutrition and over-consumption.

So, is maximising production the right response to ensure a vibrant farming sector for the future? Whilst boosting exports may produce a short-term increase in revenue, can this be sustained? To ensure we have a resilient farming sector in the future, we need to protect and build our asset base. This means including soils, water and nature in the equation.

Agriculture needs a supportive framework of effective regulation to

ensure good practice, as well as help for farmers to manage risks and market fluctuations with payments for the public goods they provide. We also need to take better account of the externalities of farming, to favour those who farm most sustainably, a movement known as “true cost accounting”.

Many farmers are already taking steps to improve the sustainability of their operations. For example Farmcare, the former Co-operative farming business now owned by the Wellcome Trust, has developed a 10-year plan, setting out how they plan to improve their soils through more mixed farming and longer rotations. However, a larger number of businesses could do more if better engaged and supported. Government should shift its focus away from a narrow view of growth in output, to how we can ensure we are well placed to deliver sustainably for people and nature.

For more informationcontact Lucy Bjorck [email protected]

1 Nidera traders – article in Farmers Weekly 10 July 2015

Set up for success?At the time of writing, it’s still

unclear whether England’s new

Countryside Stewardship scheme

will be a roaring success in 2015,

or a damp squib.

With so much uncertainty, and a real lack of information, it is fair to say that Countryside Stewardship has had a difficult start to life. Coming off the back of a shambolic beginning to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) subsidy system and IT breakdowns, it’s not clear whether farmers have got the appetite to wrestle with more application forms this year, especially during harvest.

If demand for the scheme in 2015 is hit by the rushed launch and associated uncertainty, it will make the application window in 2016 all the more important. When we trailed the scheme at the agricultural show Cereals in June, there was clear interest, and our stand was buzzing with farmers seeking more information. If this experience is anything to go by, Natural England will need to push Countryside Stewardship in 2016 to make up for the difficult start this year.

Political decisions due in 2017 about whether to increase the budget for the scheme will be partly based on demand. It is apparent to us that a review to inform this cannot be based solely on demand this year alone. To get a true picture, this decision must also take account of the 2016 application window.

For more informationcontact Tom Lancaster: thomas.lancaster@rspb.

org.uk


News stories

Down and out, or up and away? Prospects for success in Paris and the importance of land use.

When we think about tackling climate change, our minds may ordinarily turn to energy production and transport. But the earth beneath our feet, the land itself, is one of the biggest factors in determining how many emissions reach the atmosphere, and indeed in how many are removed.

International agreement has been reached on 2oC being the safe limit for a rise in the global temperature. Yet to stay below that 2oC threshold, global emissions need to go to zero, or nearly so, well before the end of the century. If you add up the emissions from agriculture, forests and other land use, they come to 24%, practically a quarter of all human-induced emissions. It is all too clear that we will not stay below the internationally agreed limit on global temperature rise unless we drastically cut emissions from land use.

Forests, peatlands and grasslands, habitats that are all important for nature, are also vitally important carbon sinks, drawing carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it. This gives us another reason for conserving them. Habitats such as these, as well as the oceans, are the only two ways we have of removing carbon from our atmosphere once it’s already there. So, when negotiators meet in Paris later this year for a crucial climate change conference, land use will already be embedded in the text they work on.

But land is a sensitive issue because it covers so many topics, including land rights and biodiversity, among others. In general, emissions from land use in high-income countries are dominated by agricultural activities, whilst those from low-income countries are dominated by deforestation and forest degradation. But the main driver of deforestation is food production, primarily beef and soy in South America and palm oil in southeast Asia. It demonstrates just how important agriculture is to the climate change debate.

This is by no means a simple issue to address. It is especially sensitive in developing countries, where agriculture is central to the livelihoods of millions of people. Producing food whilst reducing total emissions will be a major challenge. To avoid getting bogged down, the Paris agreement will focus on two main areas: reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries (REDD+), and how to include land use emissions and removals (taking carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it) in targets, so-called accounting rules.

REDD+ enjoys almost universal support and is likely to be embedded in the treaty, although difficulties remain. There is too little money available to finance it globally, and many countries lack the expertise, or even the governance, to implement it nationally.

Land use accounting rules are more contentious. Originally developed for the Kyoto Protocol in 2005, they have long been a source of frustration for environmental NGOs. Developed countries have been gifted the right to pick and choose what they account for, and how they account for it. This means they’ve ended up picking systems that best suit them, and often

end up with credits, but no debits, on their carbon accounts.

Two years ago, the RSPB and BirdLife International, alongside hundreds of other NGOs, began to push for a set of principles in the Paris treaty that would define how any future rules should be set, accounting for what actually goes into and out of the atmosphere.

Slightly to our surprise, this bid worked and we have some powerful allies, notably the USA. Broadly, we are calling for more comprehensive and consistent rules for accounting for emissions from land use, in particular the use of common base years or periods against which countries should account.

Given how central land use is to total greenhouse gas emissions and associated climate change, making sure that it is fully accounted for in the Paris agreement will be a key test of whether the Convention has succeeded or failed.

For more informationcontact Matt Williams: [email protected]

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The carbon-storing peatbogs of RSPB Forsinard Flows nature reserve.


News stories

EU directives under threatAs part of its smart regulation policy, the European Commission (EC) is currently undertaking a “fitness check” review of the EU Birds and Habitats Directives – widely recognised as the cornerstone of efforts to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity in Europe – to assess whether they remain “fit for purpose”.

The RSPB, as part of a coalition of 100 voluntary organisations across the UK – the Joint Links group – has responded to the EC consultation, warning that it represents the single biggest threat to UK and European nature in a generation. According to the Joint Links evidence submission, the Directives represent a robust yet flexible legal framework for achieving sustainable development. Scientific evidence shows that they have brought about significant improvements in the status of protected species in the face of growing pressures, including climate change. And this is despite inadequate resourcing and incomplete implementation.

According to the Joint Links, any change to the Directives would undermine decades of progress and cause unnecessary uncertainty. It is calling instead for better implementation of existing requirements, alongside an increase in targeted funding for key conservation measures, including high nature value farming.

When it comes to achieving the objectives of the Directives, the agricultural sector is key. Many threatened habitats and species are associated with farming activities, such that agri-environment schemes represent a crucial source of funding for their conservation and provide vital support for high nature value farming.

Unfortunately, the majority of such habitats and species remain in unfavourable condition. To date, the EU Common Agricultural Policy as a whole has consistently undermined

what the Directives have achieved: the latest round of CAP reform has done little to improve this situation, thanks to a further weakening of the cross-compliance requirements related to the Directives, as well as the exclusion of some of the most environmentally valuable farmland from receiving direct payments.

A 12-week online public consultation as part of the “fitness check” attracted a record-breaking number of responses, with the vast majority calling on the EC to improve implementation of the existing legislation, rather than weakening it. The EC is expected to publish its findings early next year.

For more informationcontact Donal McCarthy: [email protected]

Bittern – an EU Directives

success story

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New environmental legislation for Wales

It has been a busy year in terms

of new legislation aimed at

sustainably managing the natural

resources of Wales. The Well Being

of Future Generations (Wales) Act

and the Planning (Wales) Act both

became law in 2015, and both will

be key in securing a sustainable

future for the Welsh countryside.

The next significant piece of environmental legislation is the Environment (Wales) Bill, introduced in May and currently progressing through the legislative process. The Environment (Wales) Bill is designed to create the legislation needed to plan for and manage the natural resources of Wales in a more joined-up way. The Bill is wide ranging, also covering areas such as climate change, charges for carrier bags and the collection and disposal of waste. The Bill will also introduce a new way of working for Natural Resources Wales, the body responsible for managing and protecting the Welsh countryside.

Whilst the Environment Bill should provide a big opportunity to improve the outlook for nature, there is potential for the focus on natural resources to bring little or no relief for Wales’s declining wildlife. The RSPB is calling for wording in the Bill to make it explicit that nature recovery is a required outcome of natural resource management. A defined statutory target for biodiversity would give it legislative teeth. Such a move would demonstrate clear leadership and commitment by the Welsh Government to help nature recover in Wales, and improve accountability around the recovery of our currently degraded Welsh countryside.

Without these clear commitments in the Bill to stimulate action, it’s highly likely wildlife will continue to decline in Wales.

For more informationcontact Jon Cryer: [email protected]


Opinion piece

The importance of flies as pollinatorsDr Katherine Orford is a pollinator scientist, and researcher in environmental policy at the National Assembly for Wales.

Pollinators play a crucial role in ecosystems by facilitating plant reproduction. They provide an essential ecosystem service, being responsible for 35% of global crop-based food production.

But what comes to mind when you think of pollinators? Bees? Butterflies? Hoverflies?

Indeed, these insects contribute significantly to pollination and are often the focus of pollination studies. However, what about other taxa, such as flies other than hoverflies? These are families of flies that are not classed as hoverflies (the insect family known scientifically as Syrphidae). They include Muscidae (including house flies), Bombyliidae (bee flies) and Calliphoridae (blow flies). These flies, known collectively as non-syrphid Diptera, are frequently neglected in pollination studies, and assumed to be unimportant.

Non-syrphid Diptera are diverse, common and ubiquitous in both natural and managed habitats, and therefore have the potential to contribute significantly to pollination. Although they are unlikely to be the most important pollinators, en masse they could have a larger role than previously realised. Seventy-one families of fly contain flower-visitors, and flies are regular visitors to at least 555 plant species, which include over 100 cultivated plant species, comprising important crops, such as mango, oil seed rape, onion and even cocoa! Although records of flies as flower-visitors exist, evidence of their importance as pollinators is limited.

With this in mind, we decided to assess the potential contribution of the non-syrphid Diptera in the pollination process compared to the

well-studied hoverflies. We collected data where insects’ bodies, of different taxa, had been swabbed for pollen and the pollen grains found on the bodies had been identified and counted, providing information on their role as pollen vectors. The study included data from 9,082 individual insects, from a range of habitats. We found no significant difference in pollen-loads between the Syrphidae and non-syrphid Diptera. Moreover, the data from farmland habitats (33 farms) showed that non-syrphid Diptera made up the majority of the flower-visiting flies; on average 82% abundance and 73% species richness. From combining pollen-loads and insect abundance, we estimated that non-syrphid Diptera carry 84% of total pollen borne by farmland flies.

Given the current declines in bees

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and butterflies, improving our understanding of the role of the less well-known pollinator groups is timely. Agri-environment schemes and other management strategies, which have been designed primarily to conserve the better-studied pollinators, must also look to conserving the perhaps less charismatic species. They could make a significant contribution to global food security.

See the original study The forgotten flies: the importance of non-syrphid Diptera as pollinators for more information at http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royprsb/282/1805/20142934.full.pdf

Dr Katherine Orford

Time to rehabilitate much-maligned flies?


News stories

Better regulation in Northern IrelandThe Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland is seeking views on proposals for an Environmental Better Regulation Bill. In a parallel process, the Northern Ireland Assembly Committee on Agriculture is also seeking views on “Better Regulation” through an inquiry process. The terms of reference for the committee inquiry are to “champion the cause of decreasing the level of regulatory burden on farmers.”

The RSPB supports a move towards better regulation which removes unnecessary bureaucracy and is more effective. However, we do not support any weakening of environmental protection. The RSPB believes that a level of regulation is necessary to protect not only the natural environment and the essential services it provides, but also the long term health of the Northern Ireland economy by providing a level playing field.

We recognise the frustration farmers feel when faced with unnecessary bureaucracy. We farm land ourselves

A greener future for Scottish agriculture?

In June this year, amongst the enormous machinery and prize-winning bulls of the Royal Highland Show, the Scottish Government launched the Future of Scottish

Agriculture: a discussion document.

Setting out a vision for a “green, innovative and profitable agriculture industry”, the document identifies nine key outcomes needed to make it a reality over the coming decade.

In the foreword, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead helpfully acknowledges the environmental and other benefits that Scottish agriculture can provide. With hints of joined up thinking, he also makes the connections between farming and the food and drink sector as a whole, and the Government’s wider land use vision set out in its Land Use Strategy.

One outcome grabbed our attention immediately – “Scotland is a world leader in green farming”. This is a bold but very welcome ambition. Achieving it will be challenging, requiring a step change in the current environmental performance of Scottish farming. Government must take the lead in making this happen, but it also challenges every farmer to step up and do more. For our part, we will continue to provide advice to farmers on nature-friendly farming and call for policies that support such farming methods.

Intended to generate debate, the document has thrown down the gauntlet to all of us who care about the future of farming. We may not all agree on what we want and how to get there, but having the conversation is a good starting point.

For more informationcontact Vicki Swales

[email protected]

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and, across the UK, host over 25,000 livestock throughout our land management network. We acknowledge that many of our important species and habitats depend on sympathetic management by farmers.

The aim should not be to simply reduce regulation though. Instead, effort needs to be put towards improving the effectiveness of regulation – delivering the public benefits it exists to secure – while ensuring that it is simple and streamlined. This echoes one of the recommendations in a report by the Criminal Justice Inspectorate while reviewing the work of the environmental crime unit in May 2015.

For more informationcontact John Martin

[email protected]

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A cow grazing at Loch Erne, Northern Ireland, one of more than 25,000

livestock to be found on land managed by the RSPB across the UK.


News stories

Burning questionsConservationists are becoming increasingly concerned about the future of the hen harrier, particularly in England, where hen harriers remain at worryingly low numbers. After a promising start to the season, five male hen harriers disappeared inexplicably, resulting in the failure of the associated breeding attempts. Such disappearances seem to be a characteristic feature of hen harriers that breed on or close to driven-grouse moors.

The fate of the hen harrier is inextricably linked with driven grouse shooting. The apparent desire to produce ever more grouse is underpinned by increasingly intensive, questionable and sometimes illegal management practices. For example, recent research highlights the impact

of burning on peatland habitats. A report by Natural England found that burning has increased five-fold since the 1940s. The results of research undertaken by the RSPB found that the annual number of fires increased (by an average of 11% per year) in Scotland, England and Wales between 2001 and 2011. One third of the one kilometre squares where burning occurred were on deep peat. In England, 44% of squares where burning occurred were on deep peat. These concerns were highlighted in a recent report by the Committee on Climate Change.

There is much talk. It is now time to make sure that internationally important sites are managed such that sensitive habitats and protected species like the hen harrier are able to recover.

For more informationcontact Pat Thompson: [email protected]

or Jeff Knott [email protected]

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Heather moor burning in England, Wales and Scotland increased by 11% each year over a 10-year period.


News stories

Hay bales ruined by winter storm, Somerset Levels.

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The project, called “Hills to Levels” is a partnership between The Royal Bath & West of England Society, Somerset Wildlife Trust, the RSPB and the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South West (FWAG SW).

The project will work in four key areas. It will advise landowners in the upper catchments of the rivers Parrett, Tone, Brue and Axe on how they can “slow the flow” of run-off to help reduce flood peaks, improve water quality, decrease soil erosion and benefit wildlife. This includes funding a whole range of measures from woodland planting to constructing small dams, silt traps and leaky ponds.

Working together to reduce flood risk in SomersetIn May, the Royal Bath & West of England Society formally launched an exciting £750,000 project, funded by the People’s Postcode Lottery, to help farmers in Somerset to farm in a way that reduces flood risk while enhancing wildlife and producing high quality food.

On the Levels and Moors, it will support farmers adopting flood- resilient farming, including research to trial new grass seed mixes that are productive, but resistant to flooding.

It will explore the establishment of a Community Land Trust to own or rent land at high risk of flooding, and to support the management of similar land by others, so that these areas can bring a range of benefits to local communities, businesses and the environment of the Levels and Moors for years to come.

Finally, it will work with local communities to produce a collective

vision for the Levels and Moors that represents the views of everyone living and working in this unique and much loved landscape.

Find out more at hillstolevels.org

For more informationcontact Richard Bradford [email protected]


News stories

Better times aheadImagine we could look into a crystal ball...

It’s the not-too-distant future and land and water management in England have undergone a renaissance. Farming is playing its full part in reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions, while adapting successfully to the climate change that is already happening. Flood management strategies work with natural processes rather than against them.

Farms across the country are producing high quality food while contributing to sustainable jobs and flourishing local communities. People of all ages can explore and enjoy the countryside. Citizens understand where their food comes from and make purchasing choices based on health, provenance and environmental

impact, as well as price. Everyone understands the value of water and uses it wisely.

Agricultural policies have been reformed; public funds are used effectively and transparently to support land management that provides clear public benefits. Regulation is clear, fair and well-enforced. Soils are healthy and productive, waters and wetlands are free from pollution and alive with wildlife, and decades of decline in farmland nature have been reversed.

It’s a vision for the future that we hope everyone can agree on. Now leading environmental organisations have come together to set out a series of ambitious but achievable steps that

need to be taken to get us there. Two documents – Farming Fit for the Future and Water Matters – were launched by Wildlife and Countryside Link at a well attended event at Westminster in September. We hope these two visions will help shape the Government’s emerging 25-year plan for agriculture, and will underpin Link’s work with the water industry, agriculture and government in the years to come.

For more informationcontact Ellie Crane: [email protected]

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Farmers and conservationists need to work together to achieve a sustainable future for food, farming and wildlife.

Fieldfare Summer 201512

News stories

Oxford callingAs this issue of Fieldfare goes to print, we are already looking forward to January 2016 and the Oxford conferences.

ContactsIf you have any comments about Fieldfare, the topics

discussed in this issue or would like to receive it by post or

by email, please contact [email protected]

The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International, a partnership of conservation organisations working to give nature a home around the world.

The RSPB, UK Headquarters, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL. Tel: 01767 680551.RSPB Scotland, 2 Lochside View, Edinburgh Park, Edinburgh, EH12 9DH. Tel: 0131 317 4100.RSPB Northern Ireland Headquarters, Belvoir Park Forest, Belfast, BT8 7QT. Tel: 028 9049 1547.RSPB Wales Headquarters, Sutherland House, Castlebridge, Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff CF11 9AB. Tel: 029 2035 3000.

rspb.org.uk

The RSPB is a registered charity in England and Wales 207076, in Scotland SC037654. 222-0455-15-16

Front cover: lapwing by Danny Green (rspb-images.com)

The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home.

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As usual, the RSPB will begin the New Year by taking the opportunity to meet with farmers and others from the agriculture industry to hear about new developments, innovations and to discuss the challenges over the next 12 months and beyond. 2015 has been an interesting year, with lots of new challenges and opportunities for our countryside and we will be keen

to see the important long-term issues of environmental sustainability and biodiversity on the agenda for 2016.

There will be RSPB staff at both the Oxford Farming Conference (Examination Halls, 5–7 January) and the Oxford Real Farming Conference (Oxford Town Hall, 6–7 January). The conferences provide a great

opportunity to discuss everything food and farming with an increasingly diverse range of interests, and we look forward to seeing you there.

For more informationcontact Kathryn Smith: [email protected]

We hope to see some of you at the Oxford farming conferences in January.

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