Opinion: Food production and environment go hand in hand
Farmers Weekly With robotic pickers and packers many years away for most commercial horticulture businesses and labour availability falling dramatically, the industry is on the verge of a crisis. Industry leaders want the Home Office to act now to increase the seasonal worker quota for 2023 to avert a disaster for UK fruit and veg […]
UK horticulture careers towards seasonal labour crisis
Farmers Weekly With robotic pickers and packers many years away for most commercial horticulture businesses and labour availability falling dramatically, the industry is on the verge of a crisis. Industry leaders want the Home Office to act now to increase the seasonal worker quota for 2023 to avert a disaster for UK fruit and veg […]
NFU leaders defend environmental record and climate ambition
Farmers Weekly The NFU has said it wants the UK to be world leaders in climate-friendly farming, as senior figures launched a passionate defence of the union and its environmental record. NFU environment forum chairman Richard Bramley and NFU president Minette Batters dismissed suggestions the union is anti-environment, and insisted food and nature will always […]
Welsh farmers shocked by planned rises in environmental charges
Farmers Weekly Sheep farmers in Wales face a tenfold increase in the cost of an environmental permit to spread dip on their land from April 2023, as part of a massive hike in charges proposed by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to plug a £3m annual shortfall in its finances. In the first overhaul of charges […]
Defra provides extra funding for UK horticulture growth
Farmers Weekly Defra has set out plans to boost home-grown fruit and vegetable production and improve the uptake of technology in the horticulture sector. To kickstart the plans, Defra secretary Ranil Jayawardena has announced £12.5m of extra funding for the Farming Innovation Programme (FIP). This will be available to support research and development projects that […]
Opinion: Reviewing farm policy plans is an act of prudence
Farmers Weekly Before I start, I need to warn you the following article may contain gratuitous name-dropping that some readers may find upsetting. Furthermore, it should be noted the people mentioned are not glamorous celebs like Joey Essex, but rather they are politicians. The first name to drop is George Eustice. I recollect a meeting […]
Ben’s Story: Trees can benefit wildlife and food production
Farmers Weekly More trees in the countryside doesn’t have to mean a choice between forest and farmland. In field margins and boundaries, in unproductive corners and near watercourses, trees can bring a host of benefits – and there’s no need to take valuable land out of food production. For Ben Butler, director of the 1,000-acre […]
Minister considers blocks to solar farm construction
Farmers Weekly Representatives of Britain’s solar energy industry have attacked proposals that could see panel installations blocked on swathes of England’s farmland. Defra secretary Ranil Jayawardena is reportedly considering the move amid concerns over food security, to ensure that productive farmland is not developed. Although not yet confirmed by Defra, the minister has mooted extending […]