Angus farmer Caroline Millar has been appointed the new chair of the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC).
Mrs Millar took over as Chairman from Martin Davies and will hold the voluntary position for a year during which time she will lead the OFC's charitable and industry work, as well as delivering the 2018 conference.
She and her husband Ross Millar farm beef, sheep and arable enterprises as well as the Hideaway agritourism business at Auchterhouse, just five miles from Dundee.
Brexit challenges
"My experience is in farming, agritourism and supporting other rural businesses develop and grow, through the consultancy arm of my business, Go Rural," Mrs Millar said.
"I want to bring this broad experience to shape the focus of the 2018 conference.
"It may come across as a challenging thing to say, but UK farming must remember that it doesn’t operate in a silo and must stop being so inwardly looking.
"The sector has the Brexit challenges to negotiate and needs to think about the opportunity and impact that it has on the country’s wider economy to build a profitable future. It is essential for the industry to demonstrate our value as a critical part of the rural economy."
Caroline Millar is a Scottish Enterprise Rural Leader, her Nuffield Scholarship was completed in 2013 – it took her to Australasia, Austria, Belgium, Italy and the USA to explore how international farmers are adding value to their farms by adding diversified enterprises.
Tourist trade
Ms Millar and her husband Ross have started supplying their Aberdeen Angus beef and lamb direct to the tourist trade.
She works closely with Visit Scotland to encourage tourism and hospitality businesses to server more farm produce onto food service plates.
She is a council member for the Scottish Tourism Alliance and sits on the Scottish Enterprise’s Regional Advisory Board in Tayside.
Three new council members will join the OFC board until January 2020, they are Matthew Naylor, Anna Hill and Professor Nigel Scollan.
