ORFC 2026 Spotlights the Small Farmers Growing for a Hotter UK Climate
As the UK faces accelerating climate change and mounting pressures on land use, the Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC), held on 8-9 January 2026, will spotlight the pioneering farmers and growers adapting their systems — and their crops — to a rapidly shifting world. Working with nature, these innovative farmers are already growing crops including rice, olives, tea, nuts and wine that were previously impossible in the UK’s climate.
ORFC, the annual gathering of the UK’s real food and farming movement, brings together thousands of farmers, growers, researchers, and activists to exchange ideas, learn new skills, and work together to push for a fairer, more resilient food and farming system.
The ORFC 2026 programme features a series of sessions exploring the future of food in a warming climate, highlighting the bold experimentation already reshaping UK fields and farming systems.
What Grows when the Climate Changes?
As temperatures rise, crops once considered impossible – olives, rice, nuts and wine – may become staples for farmers across the UK. ORFC 2026 will delve into the opportunities and challenges of climate-driven diversification, with farmers and researchers, including Essex and Suffolk olive farmer, Pete Townsend and Calixta Killander of Flourish Produce, sharing their early findings. From infrastructure gaps to market barriers, speakers will share what it takes to scale these innovative crops to commercial reality and the lessons learned so far.
Growing Tea on Dartmoor
Over the last decade, Jo and Kathryn Harper have cultivated more than 7,000 tea plants on Dartmoor, producing green, black, oolong, and white teas from Camellia sinensis. Their long-term vision includes propagating a genetically diverse, locally adapted landrace variety. At ORFC 2026, they will share the practicalities, challenges, and successes of establishing a new entrant tea enterprise in the UK — and how local tea production could enrich cultural diversity, strengthen local economies, and boost climate resilience across the farming sector.
Healing Land through Nut Farming in Glastonbury
Hugely nutritious and highly compatible with agroforestry systems, nuts represent a powerful — yet underdeveloped — opportunity for UK farming. ORFC 2026 will explore how pioneers like Andrew Kent of Glastonbury Nut Farm and grower Tom McVeigh are building a future for nut-based perennial protein in the UK. Speakers will discuss the health benefits, the ecological gains, the community-building potential of nut farming, and the emerging market pathways for this growing sector.
Landscape Renewal through UK Winemaking
Viticulture is now one of the fastest-growing agricultural sectors in the UK, offering promising pathways for rural livelihoods and landscape renewal. Robin Snowdon, who began the 100% biodynamic Limeburn Hill Vineyard near Bristol in 2025, and Will Davenport, founder of the pioneering organic Davenport Vineyards in Kent, will offer an introduction to the realities and future potential of UK viticulture. This ORFC 2026 session will examine how organic, biodynamic, and regenerative approaches can help aspiring UK wine producers reduce inputs, build soil health, strengthen biodiversity, and sustain business resilience.
ORFC Manager, Hester van Hensbergen, said, “In a time of unprecedented environmental challenge, it is inspiring to see how these small farmers are developing new opportunities for UK farming – by working with nature, they are showing that it is possible to build climate resilience while growing in innovative and exciting ways”.
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