This Week in Farming: Budget, protests and Deere on test

Welcome back to another edition of This Week in Farming, your regular round-up of the best Farmers Weekly content from the past seven days.

First, here are your markets (opens as PDF). Red diesel is back on the week, and beef prices are once again in the green amid reports of abattoirs hunting for supply.

Now, on with the show.

About the author

Andrew Meredith

Farmers Weekly editor

Andrew has been Farmers Weekly editor since January 2021 after doing stints on the business and arable desks. Before joining the team, he worked on his family’s upland beef and sheep farm in mid Wales and studied agriculture at Aberystwyth University. In his free time he can normally be found continuing his research into which shop sells London’s finest Scotch egg.

Contact:

Email: andrew.meredith@markallengroup.com

X: https://x.com/Merry_Meredith

Read more articles by Andrew Meredith

Budget wrap

The Budget has, of course, been the biggest story in the mainstream media this week and there was a small concession on inheritance tax (IHT).

We’ll have full analysis of the impact of the measures early next week, including hikes to the minimum wage and changes to capital allowances.

However, my snap analysis is that this is a Budget that will accelerate food inflation, amplifying consumer gripes about the cost of food.

Inheritance tax latest

Did chancellor Rachel Reeves ask the police to renege on an agreement to allow tractors in Whitehall on Budget day so she wouldn’t have to be pictured with IHT protesters on her way to Parliament?

That’s the suspicion of many farmers after the terms of the Westminster demonstration were abruptly changed the day prior to the big event, making it a more chaotic, acrimonious and, ultimately, more heavily publicised protest.

Shadow Defra secretary Victoria Atkins has written to the Met Police asking for an explanation.

Wednesday’s London demo was far from the only IHT protest this week, with events taking place on major trunk roads on Sunday, as well as other gatherings in Newcastle, Exeter and at the Welsh Winter Fair.

Problem solving

Away from all the political drama, thank goodness there’s still plenty of farming happening.

I particularly enjoyed this week’s Livestock feature looking at how farm staff and professionals worked together to tackle a surge in mastitis in a spring-block herd.

And here’s a couple of crumbs of comfort for beleaguered arable farmers: biostimulants have been given a shot of credibility after a three-year trial run by Niab showed biostimulant efficacy, and the licence for a herbicide has been broadened to permit post-emergence use.

Speedy Deere

A 50kph box is one of a short number of additions to the update of the popular John Deere 6M series, which will come as a relief to contractors.

Our machinery team put the 6M 155 tractor on test this week to see how it stacks up against the more luxurious R-series.

Elsewhere in machinery news, there’s a facelift for the Fendt 1000 Vario series and we’ve reopened our popular Farm Inventions competition for another season with a £2,500 prize pot.

Who’s up and who’s down?

On the up this week (notwithstanding the protest events mentioned above) are rural police officers after they launched a fresh rural crime strategy promising a more visible police presence and enhanced measures to tackle organised crime.

Feeling down are pig producers as margins tighten amid prices dropping to £2/kg.

Listen to the FW Podcast

Don’t forget to tune in to the Farmers Weekly Podcast, with Johann Tasker, Louise Impey and Hugh Broom.

This week, the team bring you expert Budget analysis, the latest on the fallout from the farmer protests in London and talk about fruit growers’ bold plans for apples and pears.

You’ll find it anywhere you get your podcasts, or listen free on the FW website.