I’ve been attending the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) digitally for the last three years. But this year I wanted to experience it in person once more – to catch up with familiar faces, reconnect with networks, and get a sense of what the industry is feeling.
After many years of uncertainty, policy upheaval and external shocks our industry has understandably defaulted to a defensive posture. In the OFC 2026 report “UK Agriculture: Grasping the Opportunities”, the author Louise Manning suggests that “For many farming families the ground has shifted beneath their feet.” She describes farmers as “operating in a ‘BANI’ world, characterised by conditions that are Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear and Incomprehensible.”
Ask any farmer how things are going, and the conversation almost inevitably turns to what’s wrong before what’s right: the weather, regulations, prices. It’s become farming’s brand persona, if you will – a sort of institutionalised anxiety that makes it reach for problems before we acknowledge possibilities.
“Grasping the opportunities”
The truth is not so black and white. Even the OFC report suggests there’s another story to be told. Because over the past three or four years, many farm businesses have actually done reasonably well, particularly in the livestock sectors, albeit in a volatile market. The Farmers’ Weekly Sentiment Survey last year also showed more farmers feeling positive than the previous year. Yet as an industry we seem almost embarrassed when bottom lines are reasonable – as though success must be hidden rather than celebrated.
This reluctance to talk ourselves up isn’t unique to farming – it’s a very British trait. But in agriculture, it’s particularly problematic. When it’s constantly on the defensive, constantly fretting over things beyond our control, it misses the extraordinary assets right in front of its own eyes.
When I think about what British farming represents it fills me with hope and pride. Farmers are custodians of a countryside that provides not just food, but clean water, fibre, fuel, carbon sequestration, habitat restoration and mental wellbeing for millions.
It has world-class expertise and is surrounded by innovation. Walk around any agricultural show, like Dairy-Tech earlier this month, and you’ll see that many exhibitors are new names, new innovative businesses bringing fresh ideas and solutions to the sector.
These aren’t problems. These are trump cards. And it’s time British farming started playing them.
The fast lane versus the slow lane
The OFC report talks about three mindsets in agriculture: ‘the doom loop’, ‘the drawbridge’, and ‘growth opportunity driven.’ Only the last of these offers a viable future. There will always be farming businesses in the slow lane, the fast lane and some that fall by the wayside. But here’s the crucial point: you don’t need to be a massive operation to be in the fast lane. You need to be mission-led, data-driven and willing to look outwards to collaborate. You need to be “growth-opportunity driven”.
The businesses thriving today are those with a clear purpose beyond simply ‘farming because that’s what we’ve always done’. They understand the power of diversification. They know their soil types and have the data to understand and benchmark their performance. They can articulate their value proposition not just to their local community, but to their entire supply chain.
This matters more than ever because the business environment is becoming more complex, increasingly fickle, ever faster moving. The last ten years has brought five times more change than the previous twenty-five. New technologies, AI, shifting consumer demands – these aren’t slowing down. The only way to navigate this is to build resilience and agility into your operation from the ground up.
Again, in the words of Louise Manning “The UK agricultural sector needs to transition into a mission-led, agile, and opportunity-driven industry.”
Collaboration is the competitive advantage
Farming can be a lonely business. It’s easy to look inward, especially when times are tough. But the solution to almost every challenge facing British agriculture – from meeting Scope 3 emissions targets to accessing global markets – requires looking outward and working together. With each other and the supply chain.
Collaboration could mean sharing costs and innovation with others, joining discussion groups with like-minded farmers – and that sometimes a fresh perspective of someone new to your business or a second opinion can be more valuable than decades of ‘we’ve always done it this way’.
British farming as a brand
Every farm has a brand, whether it realises it or not. It’s what customers think when they buy its products, drive past the fields or just see their local farmer in the pub. The question is: is that brand being shaped deliberately, or is it being formed by default?
British agriculture needs to think about its brand. Not the negative narrative it’s become comfortable with, but something that reflects its genuine strengths. Every voice in the industry – from the NFU to individual farmers, from supply chain partners to trade bodies – has a role in talking up British farming. Not in an arrogant, chest-beating way, but with honest pride in what it does well and clarity about the value it creates for society.
From anxiety to opportunity
I’m not dismissing how tough farming has been. I’m not naive about the challenges. The transition from forty years of support payments to an outcome-driven model in turbulent markets is genuinely difficult. Fodder running out, milk prices dropping, geopolitical shocks we can’t control – these are real pressures that keep farmers awake at night.
But here’s what I observed at Oxford: the businesses feeling that anxiety most acutely are often those still looking for someone else to solve their problems – for government to step in, for policy to change, for markets to stabilise. Meanwhile, the businesses embracing an opportunity mindset are focusing on what they can influence, improving how they use data, building their relationships and adapting.
Yes, government has a crucial role in creating a stable business environment that encourages investment and innovation. But waiting for perfect policy conditions before taking action is a recipe for paralysis. And paralysis, as the OFC report noted, is fatal.
Looking up, not down
The sentiment that stayed with me following my conversations at Oxford was this: It’s time for agriculture to lift its head, be proud of what it does and look outward – at opportunities rather than obstacles, at collaboration rather than competition, at what you can influence rather than what you can’t.
Louise Manning believes “UK agriculture stands at a crossroads. But rather than looking back with anxiety, it’s time to embrace a bold, opportunity-driven future, making the case for positivity, collaboration and fresh thinking.”
I couldn’t agree more. British farming has an extraordinary story to tell. It feeds a nation, stewards the environment, drives rural economies and continuously adapts to whatever the world throws at it. That’s not a defensive position. That’s a position of strength.
