Each year in January, the Oxford Farming Conference takes place. Nearby, the Oxford Real Farming Conference is held at the same time. The former represents conventional agriculture and has lobbyists of agrochemical companies present, and this year the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Emma Reynolds. The latter is the annual conference for a wide variety of groups concerned with organic farming, water quality, agroecology, forestry and more. This year, Extinction Rebellion decided to pay the Oxford Farming Conference a visit.
An Extinction Rebellion picket
On 8 January 2026, Extinction Rebellion (XR) Oxford, accompanied by members of Christian Climate Action, picketed the annual Oxford Farming Conference. Placards about the physical impacts of conventional farming and boards showing UK species lost in recent decades were deployed.
Those expecting conflict between XR and the farmers would have been disappointed, however. As a participant-observer, I saw conversations between farmers and XR supporters around common interests in how farming may be sustained into the future. Farming in the UK is exposed to a variety of pressures, the well-publicised issue of taxation on inheritance being amongst the least of these.
The plight of all but the wealthiest farmers
The number of farmers is declining. Purchase prices by supermarkets are a perpetual bone of contention, undermining farming incomes. Longer periods of drought and of rainfall each year are undermining crop production.
What is happening in the UK is actually not as serious as similar extremes of weather in southern Europe, the source of many of the UK’s imported foodstuffs. Payments to farmers for specific environmental roles are low, and the option of removing some types of agriculture uses in favour of reforestation or commercial tree planting is not economically enticing at present.
DEFRA is saying it has no more cash to offer farmers. The concern of some farmers about the inheritance tax issue is obscuring the climate and environmental impacts of conventional farming whilst farmers leave the industry each year.
The need for fundamental change
Extinction Rebellion’s action was reported in the local online paper the Oxford Clarion, but not in local newspaper the Oxford Mail. XR did obtain a TV interview with That’s TV as well as extensive social media coverage.
XR’s wants include:
- changed Government policies to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture;
- increased emphasis on soil health, water conservation, and the use of far more drought-resistant species;
- a move towards greater support for farmers to be sustainable in all that they do;
- promotion of biodiversity alongside farming;
- a big effort to reduce wastage of food in distribution; and
- phasing out of over-processed foodstuffs and biofuels.
Food emissions and waste
Food accounts for about 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, including full emissions such as those associated with distribution and storage may raise this figure to about 44%.
Roughly 13% of food in the UK is lost before it gets into the shops and about 15-18% is lost in places such as homes, supermarkets and restaurants. Greater efficiency could make food cheaper, especially in season, and may mean more people employed on the land. A shrinking number of farms and farmers is a route to even more food imports and should be prevented.
This could include the use of Land Value Taxation as an alternative to Council Tax and business rates, specifically by providing low or zero taxes for desirable forms of land use with much higher taxes on ‘green deserts’ in large land-holdings, for example.
The farmers’ protest
The farmers staged a demonstration directed at the Government on Oxford High Street, outside their conference, on 8 January. Placards raised a variety of issues, although heavily featuring the inheritance tax increase. After a Government U-turn, about 85% of estates claiming agricultural property relief can now expect not to pay additional inheritance tax.
Large tractors were parked two-abreast down the middle of a section of Oxford High Street. Repeatedly, a large tooting tractor moved out on slow journey down the High Street and back to its space amongst the other tractors and vehicles. Buses and taxis, the only permitted vehicles on the High Street during the working day, were impeded by these movements. This did not attract any arrests or police cautions or lead to officers escorting arrestees over to Abingdon (since Oxford has no cells).
Imagine, if you will, the reactions of the Thames Valley Police if supporters of Extinction Rebellion were illegally parking tractors and other large vehicles on Oxford High Street and using them to delay buses and slow taxi movements.
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