OFC 2022: Event goes virtual over Omicron concerns

Directors of the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) have announced the cancellation of next month’s 76th annual conference in person amid concerns about the spread of the Omicron variant.

The event will still go ahead from 5-7 January 2022, although it will now be held entirely online.

The announcement on Wednesday (22 December) came a week after organisers of the Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) revealed that their own event would be held virtually due to rising Covid cases.

See also: ORFC 2022: Rise in Covid cases forces event to go virtual

It is the second year that the pandemic has forced the OFC – which is seen as the annual curtain-raiser for the farming year – to switch to an online-only event.

In a statement, the OFC council said it was with “deep sadness” that they had decided to cancel the in-person event, which is “the culmination of 12 months of hard work with some amazing speakers from all over the world”.

Online agenda

But the digital package will still go ahead with the addition of the science lecture, debate and fringes, all running online.

Fringe events will be moved online to Wednesday 5 January, and all the sessions that were due to be held in person will be moved online to Thursday 6 January and Friday 7 January. The Frank Parkinson lecture will also be switched online.

On Friday 7 January, Dame Ellen MacArthur will be speaking online about her journey from world-class sailor to the founding of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and its mission to accelerate the transition to a circular economy designed to eliminate waste, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature.

Original timings for the events may change, however.

Ticketing options

Delegates will be offered a refund for tickets. However, they have the option to exchange each individual ticket for three digital tickets to gift to others to tune in to the conference online – for example, to young farmers who have not previously attended the conference.

The organisers say many individuals have already taken up this option and they have been “overwhelmed” by people’s generosity.

Digital tickets are also available to buy online at £45 each, excluding VAT. All digital tickets will be sent out on or before 4 January.

Tough decision

OFC 2022 co-chairs Barbara Bray and Sarah Mukherjee said it was a difficult decision to move the conference online, but the right one.

“Like many other organisations, we have been monitoring announcements and developments across the UK and internationally on the Omicron variant. Delegate safety has always been our primary concern,” they said.

“While we are confident that the measures we had put in place to safeguard delegates were robust, the groundswell of concern nationally and internationally, combined with the lack of clarity about regulations likely in the weeks ahead, made this decision inevitable.”

The cancellation of the physical event has dealt a blow to their finances.

“The OFC is in good financial health, but we must face the fact that this decision will create a very large deficit for us, as a small charity that dates back to the 1930s,” they said.

For ticketing details and the OFC 2022 schedule of online events, visit www.ofc.org.uk.