This Week in Farming: Numb lambs, smart tags and tractor woe
© Tim Scrivener Welcome back to another edition of This Week in Farming, the place where you can rattle through the best Farmers Weekly content from the past seven days.
First, here are your market prices (opens as PDF), along with your monthly chemical input price update, with more price reductions on the year.
And there’s a final call for our machinery inventions competition – there’s up to £500 on offer for winners in each of several categories of varying complexity.
Now, on with the show.
About the author
Animal welfare law changes mooted
Sheep farmers are likely to have to numb lambs prior to tail docking or castration in changes proposed by Defra for the whole of the UK.
The government launched a consultation on the topic this week alongside a second looking at phasing out caged eggs, in line with Labour’s manifesto pledges.
In other policy news, if you’re looking to digest more detail on the Sustainable Farming Incentive in England, we have an analysis piece on the update to the scheme announced last week at the Oxford Farming Conference.
Busy week for NFU
The NFU was quick to respond on the first topic as it looked to press law makers to match any higher domestic standards with additional trade barriers to lower-standard product.
It’s been a non-stop week for news linked to the lobbying organisation as it revealed the runners and riders for its officeholder elections next month, faced a protest at Lamma over its inheritance tax (IHT) stance and quietly let go of some staff linked to net-zero work.
In my editorial this week, I assess the merits and risks of NFU president Tom Bradshaw’s IHT gambit – calling off the formal IHT campaign quickly – in order to build a relationship with Defra and Labour.
Tractor sales
More dispiriting news for tractor manufacturers this week as fresh data revealed that sales have almost certainly fallen to the lowest level since 1939, when the horse was still a contender.
A breakdown of sales by manufacturer for 2024, published this week, also reveals the shifting fortunes of John Deere and CNH.
Our machinery test this week focuses on a slightly cheaper bit of kit – battery-powered pruning saws.
Fans of shiny metal needn’t worry though, we’ll have a full round-up of all the action at Lamma 2026 in next week’s bulletin.
Wearable tech
Tech innovations aren’t just found in the machinery pages of course. This week our Livestock team look at how smart ear tags have cut two hours of work out of a Kelso dairy farm’s routine by helping to flag sickly animals early.
There’s also advice on protecting grass reseeds with fast-growing and temporary nurse crops, such as spring barley, that help shield vulnerable plants at emergence.
And if you’re wondering whether to attend Dairy-Tech next month, would seeing a cow toilet help you decide?
Who’s up and who’s down?
Prime lamb vendors will be feeling positive this week as a shortage of sellers have kept prices firm – and there’s also been a positive change to rules around carcass classification.
Bosses at mega agronomy and crop marketing firm Frontier Agriculture might be feeling more glum as it revealed that profits dropped to £9.4m for the financial year ending 26 June 2025, down from £40m the previous year.
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 have published the full Farmers Weekly Question Time as a special bonus podcast, and will also be publishing their usual weekly episode.
You’ll find it anywhere you get your podcasts, or listen free on the FW website.