Arable

Almost four years on from the referendum, we still don’t know whether farmers will be able to sell into the EU market or if they’ll be undercut by substandard imports, says Deirdre Brock, SNP spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

We in the EU are sad to see our friends in Britain leave, but we will always welcome you back if you change your mind, says Eamon Cassells, a young beef farmer from County Meath in Ireland.

Now we’ve left the EU, it can no longer be blamed for difficult or unpopular decisions, particularly on trade. In future, UK and devolved Ministers must take full responsibility for their actions, says John Davies, NFU Cymru president.

The co-operative structure was ideally suited to help farmers make the most of the data they collect, according to speakers at the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) annual conference (Thursday Jan 30). 

What to watch: 2020 wheat production estimates remain difficult to predict, but it is clear we will need to import a huge tonnage. The spread between UK and Continental prices will remain the key metric to monitor.

An international group of scientists, led by Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre, has opened its door to healthier wheat varieties, after pinpointing genes responsible for the dietary fibre content of flour.

Amid short supplies and high prices for spring bean seed, following a season when many winter crops have not been sown or have failed to establish, some growers are asking how late winter beans can be sown.

Potato production in the north east and north west of England has fallen by an estimated 36,100 tonnes on the previous season, to 205,200t.

Scientists have teamed up with farmers and industry to explore the possibility of growing organic oilseed rape in Scotland for the first time.

Scottish seed potato growers have come out strongly in defence of their production standards amid accusations of unacceptable viral infection in 2019 crops.