Latest farming opinions OPINIONOpinion: How innovation in agriculture is undervaluedThe scale and pace of global population growth, economic development and the transition to net zero are driving unprecedented demand for the agricultural science, technology and innovation needed to produce… OPINIONOpinion: The government needs a lesson in thermodynamicsBefore building my last potato store, I instructed a test piling company to report on conditions below ground. Admitting defeat two days and 27m of vertical drilling later, we had… OPINIONEditor's View: We've won argument on IHT but not the fightThe question of how to bring Labour to the negotiating table in order to extract sensible reforms to inheritance tax should not be a difficult one. Were they to act… OPINIONOpinion: Government should learn from Trump to value farmersHave you ever wondered why farmers are hated so much? Are people conditioned into thinking, from times gone by, that we are all Lords and Ladies of the Manor? Do… OPINIONOpinion: Budget was just the start of Labour's 'class war'After the Budget’s inheritance tax bombshell, it was inevitable that us consultants – land agents, lawyers, tax advisers – would go into full pro-mode and fill social media with articles… OPINIONEditor's View: Why Bovaer bashers should stop and thinkWhat are we to learn from the online uproar following Arla’s announcement about a trial of the methane-reducing supplement Bovaer? I would say it shows that solidarity in farming is… OPINIONOpinion: Let's hope there are farms left for vets to visitI found the recent television series All Creatures Great and Small irritatingly unfaithful to the James Herriot books that I love, so it was a delight to discover the 1970s… NEWSOpinion: Seeing the wood for the trees - don't miss outIn the current climate, I am well aware there are many deep concerns in the farming community, and implementing change at this time can feel overwhelming and inaccessible, but we… NEWSOpinion: Farming prospects better served by our customersI was just reflecting on the hoary old adage: “Live as if you will die tomorrow, but farm as though you will live forever.” This evergreen advice is now also… NEWSOpinion: Postponing hedgecutting will help wildlifeMargaret Thatcher famously disliked the countryside because she thought it “untidy”. Yet here we are in autumn, the season of mists, mellow fruitfulness and the crunch, bang and splat of… NEWSOpinion: Whitehall's message is 'you're on your own'For any still unsure about the medium-term implications for British (or at least English) agriculture of leaving the Common Agricultural Policy, the government’s Budget of 30 October did at least… OPINIONEditor’s View: Bravo to all who made their voices heardAny farmer who has been victim to flooding, fire, a disease outbreak or other calamity will know what it is like to see the work of 12 months or more… NEWSOpinion: Multiple factors will affect the value of farmlandWhat is farmland worth? The short answer has always been “whatever someone will pay”. But that is not much use if one is considering a sale, purchase or valuation for… NEWSOpinion: Farmer 'drama kings' out in force over IHTJust imagine if all policy choices made by government were focused on ensuring that younger generations wanted to work in farming. Changing the inheritance tax (IHT) privileges of agricultural landowners… NEWSOpinion: Middlemen set to benefit from BudgetI’d not sat and watched a Budget before, and won’t be making that mistake again. I’d liken it to the world’s most boring horror film. I knew exactly what was… OPINIONEditor's View: What will it take to win IHT reform?With just a few days to go until farmers throng Westminster seeking a Labour U-turn on inheritance tax (IHT), the question must be… will they succeed? The task for the… NEWSOpinion: Eyewatering kit prices should prompt buying reviewWe have some amazing video footage of our farm that my grandmother took on cine film in the 1959-60 season. It is a fascinating and valuable record of the farm… NEWSOpinion: Farming should have an official retirement ageMy grandpa was still farming on the day that he died aged 91 – circumstances that everyone celebrated at the time. Dedicated, devoted and sentimental, this “till death us do… OPINIONEditor's View: Farmers Weekly backs calls for Budget changesAn additional week’s perspective does not make the Budget any more palatable. With each day that passes, it becomes clearer that the Treasury’s assumptions that only a small number of… More articles
