This Week in Farming: Rhinos, waxing and IHT campaigning

Welcome back to another edition of This Week in Farming, your one-stop shop for the best content from Farmers Weekly in the last seven days.

First, here’s your markets (opens as PDF) and it’s all eyes on the wheat and rapeseed markets with farmgate and futures prices continuing their rise this week.

Now, on with the show.

Parliament is back

The return of MPs to Westminster after summer recess is always marked by a flurry of activity and this year was no exception for the prime minister and his Defra team.

This week the campaign to scrap the hated changes to IHT has reignited and the National Audit Office has issued a stark warning over the growing risk to food supply disruption.

There’s more to come this month, as I note in this week’s editorial, with a pivotal announcement on the UK-EU SPS deal expected in just a few weeks’ time.

For English farmers specifically, Defra announced the opening of its latest farm innovation fund (worth £13m) and said that the £225m capital grants pot had been exhausted, just one month after it first opened.

Attention now turns to the much-anticipated second application window for SFI 2026, expected on 22 September. Here’s five ways to get ready.

Dairy decisions

The rain may be greening things up but the drought isn’t over for dairy farmers as far as costs are concerned, yet the trickle of price rise announcements this month will be welcome.

Business editor Suzie Horne took a look at the latest advice for organic dairy farmers this week, with their additional restrictions on bought-in feed making things tricky.

And the livestock team have a slew of timely youngstock management advice published this week – take your pick from these:

• Advice on keeping track of dairy heifer rearing costs
• How much milk to feed to produce resilient heifers
• How simple system keeps calf losses at 1% for block calver

Machinery hokey cokey

Some manufacturers are getting into the UK agricultural market – and some are getting out.

Our big review this week is the top-spec Rhino pickup from Korean brand KGM’s Musso range. It is up there with the best of them in terms of towing and loadbearing capacity.

Elsewhere, Claas launched a refreshed range of Arion 5 tractors in the middleweight 145-180hp range, while Yamaha said it was dropping out of the UTV market in Europe.

Deep dives

In addition to the above, two insightful pieces that deserve your attention this week are deputy arable editor Emma Gillbard’s look at GB Potatoes – the four-year-old organisation that sprang up after growers voted to leave the AHDB.

And deputy editor Abi Kay asks whether farmers are in control of the private money coming into the sector seeking to buy environmental change.

Who’s up and who’s down?

On the up this week is Hertfordshire arable farmer Will Dickinson, who has vowed to walk again after being crushed by 1,500kg of hay bales – the weight of an average male hippopotamus.

And feeling a tad itchy (probably) is farmer and livestock haulier David Mawby, who raised £10,000 for charity by undergoing a chest, back and eyebrow wax. Bravo to them both.

Listen to the FW Podcast

Don’t forget to listen to the latest Farmers Weekly Podcast, brought to you by Johann Tasker, Hugh Broom and Louise Impey.

This week, the team discuss winter cropping options, livestock numbers and meet Andrew Sunnock – organiser of a harvest festival in Essex with some very special guests including Chesney Hawkes.

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