England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will all be represented during political session at farming conference
The Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) has announced that Defra secretary Emma Reynolds will deliver the annual political keynote address at the 2026 event, before taking questions from the audience.
Following Reynolds’ speech in Oxford and online from 7-9 January, the audience will hear from ministers across the devolved nations including Jim Fairlie, minister for agriculture and connectivity in the Scottish Government; Huw Irranca-Davies, deputy first minister and cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs in the Welsh Government; and Andrew Muir, minister of agriculture, environment and rural affairs in Northern Ireland.
OFC, which is also a charity, will celebrate 90 years since the formation of the organisation at the 2026 conference, which is themed “Growing Resilience”.
OFC26 chair Jude McCann said: “Throughout its history, OFC has always been a place for discussion and debate, aligning with our charitable ethos to ‘Include, Challenge and Inspire’. Building strong relationships with our political parties has been key to ensuring delegates get the opportunity to engage with our politicians and industry leaders.
“Many headline moments and key asks from the sector have been attributed to OFC, and I look forward to welcoming our four speakers in January.”
