New entrants wait for BPS cash after RPA computer says ‘no’
Farmers Weekly Tom Kimber has been growing maize at Higher Stavordale Farm near Wincanton in Somerset for at least 10 years, but it is only recently that he has turned his focus to improving the crop’s environmental credentials. Undersowing is becoming a key part of this strategy, allowing the farm – operated in partnership with […]
Gene-edited crops moves closer after bill gains royal assent
Farmers Weekly A parliamentary bill for gene-edited food crops to be developed, grown and sold in England has passed into law. The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act received royal assent on Thursday 23 March, following 10 months of debate across both houses of parliament. The bill updates regulation of precision-bred organisms in England and seeks […]
The benefits of integrating trees into productive arable land
Farmers Weekly Trees can sometimes be viewed as an awkward obstacle in arable fields, but their strategic integration can help deliver multiple benefits to create productive farming systems. Agroforestry combines trees and shrubs with agricultural crops or livestock. More precisely, silvoarable is the integration of trees within arable fields and, when designed correctly, can promote […]
Editor’s view: Urea debate puts Red Tractor in the spotlight
Farmers Weekly Trees can sometimes be viewed as an awkward obstacle in arable fields, but their strategic integration can help deliver multiple benefits to create productive farming systems. Agroforestry combines trees and shrubs with agricultural crops or livestock. More precisely, silvoarable is the integration of trees within arable fields and, when designed correctly, can promote […]
Liberal Democrat-led Oxford City Council goes vegan
Farmers Weekly Oxford City Council is the latest to banish meat and dairy products from its catered events, joining Edinburgh, Norwich and Cambridge in meeting the demands of the Plant-Based Council’s campaign. Despite the county’s abundance of farmers and food producers, the motion was proposed by Labour councillor Paula Dunne, who argued that the Liberal […]
Scots farmers must not face funding ‘cliff edge’, NFUS warns
Farmers Weekly Scottish farmers and crofters must not suffer a funding “cliff edge” during the transition to new agricultural support schemes, NFU Scotland has warned. Speaking during a Rural Affairs and Islands Committee on future agriculture policy at Holyrood on 22 March, NFUS policy director Jonnie Hall said “uncertainty” over future agricultural support remains the […]
Farmers exposed by Natural England data leak over Cornish SSSI plan
Farmers Weekly This morning (22 March), police raided Loscoe Chilled Foods in Derbyshire, the supplier at the heart of the beef fraud scandal revealed by Farmers Weekly. The business was under investigation by the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU), part of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), for selling cooked foreign beef and deli products as […]
Police raid Loscoe, supplier embroiled in beef fraud scandal
Farmers Weekly This morning (22 March), police raided Loscoe Chilled Foods in Derbyshire, the supplier at the heart of the beef fraud scandal revealed by Farmers Weekly. The business was under investigation by the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU), part of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), for selling cooked foreign beef and deli products as […]