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All articles about Farm policy

Find out about UK and EU government agricultural policy and what it means for farmers. Be the first to hear the news on Defra’s plans for farm payments and subsidies post Brexit, and environmental schemes and funding. Hear how the NFU, AHDB and farm industry leaders’ lobby the government to help shape farm policy.

Advice and tips

FARM POLICY

Tips to survive and thrive amid falling BPS payments

The UK agricultural sector is undergoing the biggest policy shake-up in 60 years, and government support for farmers is facing a radical overhaul. Defra has started its new Environmental Land…

MACHINERY

Q&A: Using CCTV - what farmers need to know

Farmers are increasingly turning to CCTV to protect their farm from thefts. New technology has made it easier than ever to set up camera surveillance, but the rules around data…

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Case studies

DIVERSIFICATION

Field to plate - diversification on Japanese farms

Japan’s food culture is built on strong regional associations and loyalties, alongside superb quality and freshness.  However, accelerating rural depopulation, falling farm incomes, concerns over food security and a crippling…

BUSINESS

Farming without subsidy - New Zealand's experience

UK farmers must seize the opportunity of Brexit to ramp up productivity and become more competitive, industry leaders have been told. Former New Zealand agriculture minister Sir Lockwood Smith suggested…

ENVIRONMENT

Wild bird project – a blueprint for future farm support?

Farmers in the South West have helped to save a rare farmland bird in a 25-year collaboration with the RSPB.  Farmers and the RSPB don’t always see eye to eye,…

NEWS

‘Defra blunder crippled my farm business’

Devon beef and dairy producer Winston Reed has seen the administrators called in at Cleave Farm, Templeton, near Tiverton – despite winning a four-year battle with Defra, which saw the…

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Insights

FARM POLICY

Q&A: New CLA president sets out her ambitions for farming

The new president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), Victoria Vyvyan, has vowed to champion the next generation, celebrate the regions and take its Rural Powerhouse campaign to…

FARM POLICY

Conference season: What did we learn about farming?

Food and farming has been more prominent this conference season than perhaps any other in living memory. Brexit, the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine have put agriculture in…

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Defra's survey reveals lack of confidence in farming schemes

More than half of farmers are not at all positive about their own future in farming when taking into account changes to existing payments and regulations, according to Defra’s latest…

AIR AND WATER

What next for Natural England’s protected landscapes plans?

Farmers on the Land’s End peninsula, West Penwith, have managed the land without outside interference for millennia. But that is all about to change after the Defra body Natural England…

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News

FARM POLICY

Ag budget increase must wait until economy grows – Labour

Labour’s shadow Defra secretary, Steve Reed, has said the economy will need to grow before his party can increase the agriculture budget if it wins the next election. Party leader…

NEWS

Bovine TB and tree cover rule debated at FW’s Question Time

Bovine TB, controversial plans for 10% tree cover on all farms and what English farmers can learn from their Welsh colleagues were debated by an expert panel and a live…

PAYMENTS, SCHEMES AND GRANTS

Landscape Recovery: Defra confirms 34 projects in round two

Defra has confirmed £25m of funding will be ploughed into 34 projects for round two of its Landscape Recovery scheme, which is the third component of its Environmental Land Management…

FARM POLICY

Strong public backing for farm support spending, survey reveals

Welsh farm leaders say the Welsh government must pay heed to the broad backing of taxpayers for farm support as it prepares to launch its draft budget for 2024-25. Speaking…

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Opinion

NEWS

Charlie Flindt: We need to talk about deer numbers

It has been obvious for some time that we need to talk about deer – or, more specifically, the explosion in their numbers. There can’t be a farmer or landowner…

FARM POLICY

Eustice: I’ll ensure money coming out of BPS goes to farmers

George Eustice is the secretary of state at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Here he sets out his arguments why the new Environmental Land Management scheme is…

NEWS

Eustice: Creative solutions needed to cut dependence on AN

George Eustice is the secretary of state at Defra. Here he sets out his arguments for why more imaginative thinking is needed to reduce farming's dependence on inorganic fertiliser. My…

FARM POLICY

Liz Truss: US Trade deal will benefit UK farmers

Liz Truss, Secretary of State for International Trade, explains why she believes US trade talks will benefit UK farmers, despite concerns from the farming industry about being undercut by imported…

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Podcast

NEWS

Trade deals and tree planting debated at FW Question Time

Issues surrounding trade deals, imports, and farming policy were debated in front of a full auditorium at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Cirencester for the final Farmers Weekly Question…

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Video

AGRICULTURAL TRANSITION

Video: Trade and food security top concerns for Lib Dems

The Liberal Democrats have passed a wide-ranging motion pledging better support for British farmers to produce food more sustainably, protect the environment and uphold their high standards in trade deals.…

NEWS

Trade deals and tree planting debated at FW Question Time

Issues surrounding trade deals, imports, and farming policy were debated in front of a full auditorium at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Cirencester for the final Farmers Weekly Question…

NEWS

What has Rishi Sunak done for farmers in his first 100 days?

Today marks Rishi Sunak’s 100th day in office as Prime Minister. But what has he done for farming in that time? Upon becoming PM on 25 October 2022, Mr Sunak set…

FARM POLICY

Video: Tractor protesters target Swindon MPs’ offices

Fed-up farmers staged a tractor protest in Wiltshire against government policies that they fear will ruin their livelihoods. Campaign group Save British Farming (SBF) held the rally, which started at…

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Webinar

BREXIT

What is the future of farming post Covid and post Brexit?

The long-term success of British farming depends on the sector becoming more internationally competitive, says renowned economist Sean Rickard. Post Brexit, the government will be doing trade deals with countries…

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