The Oxford Farming Conference has been forced to go entirely online in January due to concerns surrounding the spread of the Omicron variant.
The Oxford Farming Conference council has announced the cancellation of in-person attendance at next month's 76th conference.
OFC is held annually in January over three days and usually includes a programme of speakers, panel sessions, politics sessions and networking.
But concerns surrounding the spread of the Omicron variant has forced the show to go ahead entirely online.
Organisers said the event's digital package will go ahead with the addition of the science lecture, debate and fringes, running online from 5-7 January 2022.
Joint co-chairs, Barbara Bray and Sarah Mukherjee said delegate safety has always been their primary concern.
“Like many other organisations, we have been monitoring announcements and developments across the UK and internationally on the Omicron variant.
“Whilst 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 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."
