OFC 2025: UK Needs More Grazing Livestock, Not Less

Oxford Farming Conference 2025: ‘UK Needs More Grazing Livestock, Not Less’

Earth and Leaf Editorial

“Is it really the case that the UK needs more grazing livestock not less? The answer is emphatically no. However the species mix and variety needs to change, numbers must fall and the way they are managed must be modified dramatically. I fully realise it was part of a light hearted debate, but it is provocative. There is far more to soil than grazing livestock and it is plants that create soil not cattle and sheep. Ben Goldsmith was absolutely correct in his criticism of the upland sheep industry. The sector needs to listen to the science and economics”

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The UK Needs More Grazing Livestock

Delegates attending the recent Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) have accepted the idea that the UK needs more grazing livestock, not fewer, to be truly sustainable – the subject of the traditional Oxford Union debate on Thursday evening (10 January). The motion was put forward by Jude Capper, professor of sustainable beef and sheep at Harper Adams University, who presented her arguments with a strong focus on the role of dung beetles in agriculture.

See also: ‘Food production and nature recovery go hand in hand’ She warned that it would be “catastrophic” to reduce UK livestock numbers.

More on ‘UK needs more grazing livestock, not less’

To illustrate her point, Ms Capper held up a potato to the room full of delegates, explaining that it had been nourished by the manure from grazing livestock.

She highlighted that 93% of UK consumers have a positive image of the potato, going on to explain how livestock and crops work in tandem, with grazing animals playing a vital role in improving the soil microbiome.

“Whatever your dietary preferences, it’s crucial that we have meat . . . . . . . . . .

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