Two hundred people gather for Ethical Farming Conference

Two hundred people including farmers, researchers, academics and students gathered in south west Scotland on 16 May 2019 for the Ethical Farming Conference.

Delegates came from across the UK and from countries further afield including Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and the USA for what is believed to be the first-ever conference on the emerging 'ethical' farming sector.

The event programme explored a systems-based approach to farming and regenerative models of food production that address growing public concerns about climate change, biodiversity, social impact and animal welfare. 

Mossgiel Farm, Peelham Farm, Rainton Farm and Whitmuir Organic co-organised the event.

Wilma Finlay of host venue Rainton Farm, the largest cow with calf dairy farm in Europe, said:

"The conference is the start of a conversation that invites our industry to meaningfully explore the very real concerns that the public has with current food producing systems and how we might address them. Ethically produced food is an important emerging market and livestock farming needs to have a place within that market.

"In the past few weeks we’ve seen a ‘climate emergency’ declared by political leaders across the UK. We’ve also seen the publication of the UN’s IPBES report on devastating biodiversity loss, with the report calling for more sustainable, regenerative and ecological farming - exactly the topics that were discussed at the conference."

The conference was opened by Mairi Gougeon, Scottish Government Minister for Rural Affairs and Natural Environment.

Speaking before the conference Mairi Gougeon said:

"For a relatively small country, Scotland’s efforts to tackle climate change, support farmers, and ensure the highest standards of animal welfare mean that we should be leading the way internationally in ethical and sustainable farming. I know that there is already a lot of enthusiasm for this amongst Scotland’s farmers but I would encourage everyone working within the industry to embrace taking a more future-focused approach to their work, to ensure that we continue to produce an abundance of food and drink, in an increasingly unpredictable global climate."

Soil scientist Professor Christine Watson of SRUC explored the important topic of soil health and carbon sequestration, and commented:

"The conference was unusual in the broad mix of ages, genders and professional backgrounds who attended the event, and I found that diversity particularly enjoyable and stimulating.  There is growing interest in soil health, which was reflected in the discussion and questions asked, demonstrating a real understanding by delegates of the importance of maintaining soils."

Visit the Ethical Farming Conference website to find out more. 

Videos of each session will be available on the conference website.