January 2026 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Ireland | Lessons from the “Poor Man’s Cow”

January 30, 2026 Shane Casey

We are back with Shane Casey in The Burren, Ireland, where lambing season is in full swing. Shane has been busy with the next generation on and off the farm too, visiting schools with a herd of Old Irish Goats. Once a common sight in the Irish countryside, this rare native breed is helping to revive a cultural heritage that has lessons to teach us today, on biodiversity, wildfire management, and the transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next. Over to Shane in the lambing shed. […]

Menu of Food Voices – Transforming the Food System from the Bottom Up

January 28, 2026 Julianne van Pelt

In 2026, the right to food will be a core theme of our work. And what better to whet our appetites than a Menu of Food Voices? Spotlighting seven place-based approaches from very diverse territories across Europe, every voice in this report brings a unique recipe for transforming food systems from the bottom up. Op-ed by Julianne van Pelt of Foodrise. […]

UK | Oxford Real Farming Conference 2026 – Deeper and wider ways of engaging with the land

January 23, 2026 Oliver Moore

As a temperature check on where the alternative agri-food movement is in Britain, the Oxford Real Farming Conference is a good barometer. Oliver Moore reports from Oxford. […]

Poland | Minding our mental health: Celebrating what we have in common

January 19, 2026 Hannes Lorenzen

Ewa Smuk-Stratenwerth is co-founder of ZIARNO Ecological-Cultural Association and the Ecological Folk High School in Grzybów, Poland. As part of our series on mental health and wellbeing in rural areas, Hannes Lorenzen spoke with her about polarisation and conspiracies in rural Poland, but also about her views on “healthy patriotism” and the importance of practicing human virtues. […]

Mercosur will make European farmers more vulnerable to international capital & commodities flows

January 19, 2026 Hannes Lorenzen

With the signing of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement this weekend, a spectre of the past comes back to haunt Europe’s farmers. But there is still a political window to save their future. Op-ed by ARC2020 President Hannes Lorenzen, published in Le Monde on Saturday 17 January 2026. […]

The CAP Seen from Space: Balancing Green Promises and Digital Oversight

January 18, 2026 ARC

Can a system designed in Brussels and enforced from space truly understand the subtle, seasonal rhythms of rural life? Or does it risk reducing farms to mere data points, penalising complexity, and widening the gap between policymakers and those who work the land? Here, Ilaria Potenza explores this new farming frontier and what this really means on the ground. […]

Letter From a …Forager! Third Landscapes and Edible Wild Plants

January 15, 2026 ARC

A small field not far from Brussels is home to Tiers-Paysage, where Cécile Gilquin grows and forages with an immense respect and gratitude for nature’s gifts. Her mission is to help eaters rediscover edible wild plants. In this letter from a forager, Cécile walks us through a world where the untended feeds us. […]

Germany | Minding our Mental Health – “Take a closer look when others stumble”

January 13, 2026 Hannes Lorenzen

Minding mental health is an ever increasing challenge for rural communities, and especially farmers. It’s a crisis exacerbated by precarious and political uncertainty, and tied up with questions of generational renewal on farms. To learn more about the situation on the ground, the services available, and what rural communities can do, Hannes Lorenzen spoke to Regina Eichinger-Schönberger, a health counsellor in Germany who specialises in suicide prevention in the green sector. […]

What kind of fight makes sense in 2026?

January 13, 2026 Hannes Lorenzen

It’s easy to be overwhelmed. As we prepare to ride the wave of multiple crises, going into 2026 we are minding our mental health at ARC2020, and diving into this topic with rural actors and communities. A New Year’s message from ARC2020 president Hannes Lorenzen. […]