About John Duffy

John Duffy of Future Oak uplands farm in Donegal tells his own story of questioning inherited assumptions and redesigning an upland farm from first principles discovering that resilience, profitability, and ecological health can grow together.

When a farm passes down the line, you inherit more than land. You inherit a set of assumptions about what farming should look like, how success should be measured, and what was considered possible on upland ground. Like many family farms, those assumptions are shaped by decades of economic pressure, policy signals, industry advice, and local tradition.

This talk explores the journey of stepping back to ask a simple but powerful question: what if we started again? Drawing on the experience of developing Future Oak Farm, John will share the challenges, mistakes, and lessons learned while building a low-input, fully outwintered grazing system focused on soil health, animal performance, biodiversity, and community connection. Along the way, he will explore why meaningful change in farming is often as much about mindset as management, and why questioning the system can be the most important first step.

Rather than offering a prescription, this session invites farmers to reflect on their own goals, their own landscape, and the future they want to build. Because the farm we inherit is not always the farm we choose to leave behind.