This Week in Farming: Sprayers, sprays, IVF and IHT latest
© GNP Welcome back to This Week in Farming, your one-stop shop for the best Farmers Weekly content from the past seven days.
First, here are your markets (opens as PDF) and it looks like the abattoirs are testing whether they can get away with price cuts to beef and lamb.
Now, on with the show.
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Inheritance tax latest
It’s a trip to the High Courts for a group of farmers (and others) who have won the right to a judicial review of the way in which the government has implemented changes to inheritance tax.
They argue that it acted unlawfully by consulting only narrowly and technically on the changes, despite their far-reaching impact.
A victory would not compel a U-turn, but would force lawmakers to consult more widely on the changes.
Meanwhile, NFU president Tom Bradshaw confirmed he did make an offer to Keir Starmer that the NFU would shut down the Stop the Family Farm Tax campaign if the government made substantive change to the policy.
But in an interview with Farmers Weekly, Mr Bradshaw reiterated that that did not mean lobbying on the topic would end.
Sprays in the spotlight
Banning more sprays in pursuit of closer EU alignment could mean lower output and further reductions to profitability for arable farmers in the UK, the agrochemical industry has warned as it steps up lobbying on the issue.
In a “cliff-edge” scenario where the UK had to align with EU decisions on plant products with immediate effect in 2027, arable profitability could drop by up to £810m said consultancy Andersons in work commissioned by Croplife UK.
Meanwhile, regulators are putting the finishing touches to a major public consultation on the safety and efficacy of glyphosate, which will inform whether to renew its licence for use in Great Britain beyond December of this year.
This underlines the urgency of making progress with non-chemical control methods, so this latest project looking at which wheat varieties are most effective at weed suppression is very welcome.
Moet or IVF?
It’s not a piece on champagne varieties, but breeding techniques.
Accelerating the pace of genetic improvement in the breeding herd is a focus for many cattle breeders, with some choosing to swap traditional multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (Moet) in their best cows for IVF protocols instead.
Farmers at the recent British Cattle Breeders Conference spoke about the pros and cons of both protocols to freelance livestock writer Rhian Price (and if you’re going to Dairy-Tech next week, do come and watch Farmers Weekly Question Time at 11.15am).
The basics can’t be overlooked in any sector, though, which is why we’ve got a reminder on the value of good water management in dairy cattle and a refresher on forage intakes for pregnant ewes as lambing approaches.
Speedy sprayer
It must have taken a lot of work to start with a Fastrac and end up with a self-propelled sprayer and spreader platform, so kudos to the team at Landquip for delivering a remarkable rig to Farmers Weekly’s 2025 contractor of the year, Douglas Stephen.
He tells machinery editor Oli Mark why he opted for the £344,000 Fastrac Trac-Con.
Elsewhere in our sprayer and spreader focus this week, we look at the versatile boom spreader doing four jobs for a Norfolk farm and cast an eye over the latest innovations from manufacturers Tramspread (steel booms) and Knight (extra tech).
Who’s up and who’s down?
On the up this week is dairy co-op Arla, who commissioned this report seeking to energise the industry’s efforts to recruit more staff into farming. Read my editorial on why now may be a good time for the task.
Feeling less positive will be staff at ABN’s feed mills who fear for their jobs after the company put some of its plants up for sale as going concerns. We wish them all the best.
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 discuss the IHT judicial review, cattle permitting and the future of the Yield Enhancement Network.
You’ll find it anywhere you get your podcasts, or listen free on the FW website.