There were two star political attractions at this year’s Oxford Farming conference.

The first was the latest appointment to the role of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) secretary of state, Steve Barclay. As the cabinet member in charge of the environment, food and rural affairs, he is only in the role since November.

A lawyer and former military man, he stuck to a carefully prepared script, emphasising the importance of food security.

The UK only produces 60% of the food it consumes – he wants to increase that, but is hamstrung by the now-completed trade deals with Australia and New Zealand. These new Brexit-enabled deals will inevitably lead to increased imports of beef, dairy products and, especially, sheep meat.

Barclay is unable to do anything directly to reverse these deals, but pinned all his faith on clear labelling, so that British consumers would know precisely what they were buying. The confusion between food processed in the UK and actually produced in the UK would be resolved.

With presumably an eye to the forthcoming British general election, he announced a 7% increase in payments for the range of environmental schemes that replace the EU direct payments in England (Scotland and Wales follow later). He also promised to look at implementing a crop insurance scheme in light of the recent flooding and price volatility.

Barclay’s main promises were echoed by the Labour spokesman Steve Reed, who declared that food security is national security, points which were broadly taken up by former ABP executive Stuart Roberts, now the main Liberal Democrats agricultural adviser.

Caroline van der Plas

While the three UK political parties had their time on the platform, the main focus was on the Dutch woman Caroline van der Plas. Her Farmer-Citizen Movement caused a major upset in the recent Dutch elections.

At the moment, she and her colleagues are locked in discussions on the formation of a new Dutch government, but people shouldn’t hold their breath, as these are expected to drag on until the summer – and with the anti-immigrant party having secured the largest vote, it’s possible that a new election may have to be held.

After she spoke from the platform, van der Plas went into detail about the frustrations felt by farmers over enforced stock reductions and the excessively strict Dutch attitude to water quality.

At the same time, she considered Brussels had become too intrusive and was delighted that the main force behind the EU’s Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, had left the European Commission.

In her view, the Green parties were now seen as pushing for policies that are costing more money while Dutch housing, education and housing are all in crises.

Van der Plas has close Irish relations and is a frequent visitor to Ireland.

It is hard to forecast where she will end up as she shakes up Dutch politics.

Presentations

At farm level, there were excellent presentations on the future prospects and preconditions necessary for carbon trading by John Gilliland, former Devenish scientist, as well as former president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union.

Also, the hugely respected National Institute of Agricultural Botany had conducted an excellent session on the real meaning of regenerative agriculture and its role in rehabilitating soil.

As ever with this conference, there was something for each of the approximately 500 attendees. It has probably become more inward-looking following Brexit, but the mixture of high politics, cutting edge science and the chance to meet those making the most of their opportunities is a compelling mix.