This Week in Farming: Crime, Cereals and the Farmers Choir
Hawkstone Farmers Choir © Ted Howard-Jones Welcome back to another edition of This Week in Farming, pulling together the best Farmers Weekly content from the past seven days.
First, here are your markets (opens as PDF). Red diesel is back under £1/litre, the lamb market is flying, and it looks like the premium for milling wheat over feed could get better this summer.
Now, on with the show.
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Rural crime falls
Analysis by rural insurer NFU Mutual has revealed that the cost of rural crime fell in 2025 compared to the previous year, thanks to funding and hard work by farming organisations, policymakers and police forces to counter organised crime.
However, certain items remain highly desirable and not all areas have seen falls.
Pasta parcel
I thought this was a cheering tale this week of bright ideas coming to fruition: a Cotswold farmer is supplying a nifty start-up business producing pasta from 100% British spelt in Kendal, Cumbria.
Imogen and Matt Royall’s product, produced under the Northern Pasta Co brand, is now stocked in Booths and Waitrose, and the couple have also just released a cookbook.
While many farmers have seen crops and animals suffer under the high temperatures this week, others who caught the showers have fared better, such as Farmer Focus writer Mark Stubbs in Lincolnshire.
And a final piece of positive arable news: the first electric weeder with the ability to take out all the weed plant, including the root, is now on the market after a collaboration between start-up Rootwave and manufacturer Garford.
See you at Cereals?
Two weeks from now Jeremy Clarkson’s turn to host the annual Cereals event will be over.
The event is set to take place at Diddly Squat Farm on 10 and 11 June and you can see Farmers Weekly‘s packed seminar programme on the official website.
Chief reporter Phil Case recently caught up with last year’s host farmer, Andrew Ward, who revealed his advice for the Top Gear veteran.
We got us a Convoy
CW McCall’s “Convoy” track may be 51 years old, but it’s still inspiring budding truck drivers to get behind the wheel. Put it on and read our new guide to getting your HGV licence. Ten-four Rubber Duck.
Elsewhere in machinery this week, this walk-through of a new contributor to Contractor Comment, Ballymena-based DJ McKay and Son, is one of our best-read articles of the week.
They explain how a stone crusher has been a helpful addition to the business. Speaking of Northern Ireland, farm implement manufacturer Blaney Agri is offering a £50,000 prize in the second year of its competition to find someone from the agricultural industry with a smart idea they want to bring to life.
And machinery editor Oli Mark gives his first impression of Deutz-Fahr’s new 8340, a 340hp brute with its sights set on winning a bigger slice of the high-horsepower market.
Who’s up and who’s down?
Very much on the up this week are the Hawkstone Farmers Choir, who are set to perform in the final of Britain’s Got Talent on ITV at 7pm on Saturday night (30 May).
I cheered them on their way in my editorial this week, saying their success is another indication of the warm support farming is currently enjoying from the public.
Let’s break the rules and have two positives this week… farmers on both sides of the border in Ireland are set to benefit from a bovine TB research project targeting wildlife, cattle and farm biosecurity in border regions.
Feeling down are farmers licking their wounds after their expectations of income from carbon markets fell well short of what was originally promised. We investigate this in our magazine lead story this week.
Listen to the FW Podcast
Don’t forget to listen to the latest Farmers Weekly Podcast, with Johann Tasker, Louise Impey and Hugh Broom.
This week the team discuss the carbon markets, the most recent update to the farm assurance review and Baroness Minette Batters’ new book – an account of her time as NFU president.
You’ll find it anywhere you get your podcasts, or listen free on the FW website.