Arable

Input costs have been relatively stable over the last year and that trend could continue with downward pressure on oil prices.

With the backdrop of resistance issues and withdrawal of chlorothalonil (CTL), growers attending the AHDB/SRUC Agronomy 2020 meeting in Inverurie heard how to maximise disease control this season. Jo Learmonth reports.

Critics of the industry often claim today’s pesticides are more toxic and damaging to soil than ever – but nothing could be further from the truth, says Adam Speed, head of communications at the Crop Protection Association.

The Government is pushing several pieces of agriculture legislation through Parliament now, and as chair of the Efra committee and an FG reader, I intend to hold their feet to the fire every step of the way, says Neil Parish MP.

NFU vice president Stuart Roberts has warned farmers risk having their carbon credits ‘stolen’ by processors and retailers as the country moves towards its goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

Essex farmer and advocate of no-till farming Simon Cowell hopes that the new decade will bring Government support for growers to pursue sustainable farming practices more widely.

The farming industry must pull together and present a ‘united front’ if farmers are to have any hope of maintaining some form of direct support post-Brexit, NFU combinable crops board chair Tom Bradshaw has warned.

NFU horticulture board chair Ali Capper has called on the UK Government to provide support for farmers to measure and monitor their carbon footprint.

The UK is set to lose at least one oilseed rape crusher if the planting area drops this autumn, according to NFU combinable crops board chair Tom Bradshaw.

Recommendations made in the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report (January 28) still fall short on delivering for the UK’s food and farming sectors, industry leaders have warned.