Well, the rest was great while it lasted. Although it seems many of you didn't have much time off during the Christmas holiday. The FW poll completed by over 2000 users of our website asked how many days off you had during the festive period. Almost 1000 users, as of today, claimed to have had not a single day. Although 18% (372) ticked the "more than 7 days" category. Whatever break you managed to achieve, we hope it was enjoyable with the family.
For many, Christmas and the start of a new year is a special time to reflect on what's just gone and what's about to happen in the next 12 months. Some of the FW team will be off to Oxford tomorrow for the start of the Oxford Farming Conference to do just that - a spot of looking ahead.
As one of the OFC directors, I'm hoping that the programme we've put together for this year's event is inspiring and practical for the 500 delegates attending. The Oxford conference is always the most strategic event in the farming calendar with international speakers, the secretary of state and a lot of debating and networking. Sometimes we come in for a bit of criticism because the programme and event is not seen as relevant enough for farmers. Well, we have several audiences for this one - farmers, policy makers, consultants and advisers to the industry, suppliers and young people starting out in agriculture. It's hard to please everyone.
This year, we've tried to split the two days up into several themes to try to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. The themes include: the politics of farming; market forces at work; how to profit from consumer choice and improving communications and image.
Oxford wouldn't be Oxford without a bit of theatre. Michael Heseltine is the post-dinner speaker tomorrow night and, by popular demand, the Oxford Union Debate returns on Tuesday night. HRH Princess Anne is scheduled to meet Oxford scholars on Wednesday. So plenty for us to get our teeth into. Look out for live reports, pictures and maybe some video on www.fwi.co.uk from Tuesday morning onwards.
If you're going along to the event, let's try to meet and chat and let us know what you make of it. If you're not attending, why not let us know what you think of it anyway at www.fwispace.co.uk?
Happy New Year