Who holds power in global agriculture? How will the distribution of power change in future? What does population growth in emerging markets mean for agriculture and who’s best placed to exploit natural resources to produce more food? Above all, how can British farmers respond? These are amongst the topics for debate at the 2012 Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) which will be held at Oxford University Examination Schools from 3-5 January 2012.

Continuing the OFC's commitment to invest in innovative and probing industry research, a team at Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) has been commissioned to examine the dynamics and implications of global agricultural power. The team undertaking the work will be led by Dr Alan Renwick, SAC's Head of the Land Economy and Environment Research Group. The work would not be possible without the generous sponsorship of AGCO, Lloyds TSB and Volac.

"There are a host of issues linked to who and what governs the power and the potential of global agriculture, but rarely are all the entities, politics and resources all considered in the same debate," explains Cedric Porter, Chairman of the 2012 Oxford Farming Conference. "With this bold piece of research we aim to spark the debate into what impact agricultural power has now and will have in the future, plus what it means to primary producers in Britain."

The research will examine power in the context of economics, demographics, politics and  natural resources. It will study the role of nation states, multinational businesses and other corporations and attempt to set out who the key players in global food production are likely to be in the coming years.

"Our aim is to utilise the report and its findings to focus the minds of domestic producers, policy makers and the food industry on how the production potential is likely to evolve, but crucially who will be calling the shots and what it means to British farmers' competitiveness, food security and consumer choice," Mr Porter suggests.

SAC's Dr Alan Renwick adds: "The issue of who has economic, political and natural resource power has become increasingly important as the challenges facing agriculture increase.  We are therefore pleased and excited to have been chosen to undertake research on this timely and important topic on behalf of the OFC and look forward to providing a sound evidence base for lively debate at the conference in January."

Tom Hind, Director of the OFC and Corporate Affairs Director at the NFU said, “the forces of globalisation and the market economy have already had a significant impact on agriculture and food, with countries such as Brazil, Pakistan and New Zealand taking increasingly important positions in regional and global markets. Yet climate change, demographics and the relevance on global corporations are likely to lead to further shifts. Britain may be a relatively minor player on the world market but we’re becoming more and more exposed to consolidation of input suppliers and competition in key markets, especially our own. This report will help give the industry and policy markets a new insight into what changes lie ahead."

Speakers secured to debate the report's findings at Oxford 2012 include Joe Glauber, Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for DEFRA and George Magnus, Senior Economic Adviser to UBS Investment Bank, the man widely credited with having identified the trigger points leading to the financial crisis and its aftermath.

Tickets for the 2012 Conference will be available from mid October. Delegates will be able to book their places via the OFC website www.ofc.org.uk.