Blogs

From the editor: Tide must turn for dairy producers

Politics

From the editor: Tide must turn for dairy producers

This week from Farmers Guardian editor Katie Jones

clock 08 January 2026 • 2 min read
In your field: Dan Hawes – "We're farmers, things change, supermarkets buy imported apples in peak season, but we adapt, we have to"

In your field

In your field: Dan Hawes – "We're farmers, things change, supermarkets buy imported apples in peak season, but we adapt, we have to"

Dan Hawes grew up on an arable farm in Suffolk and now produces strawberry and raspberry plants for the UK fruit market with Blaise Plants, sister company to Hugh Lowe Farms, Kent. The business grows outside, under tunnels and in glasshouses and produces more than four million plants a year. The arable side includes environmental schemes, with a mix of wheat, oilseed rape, beans and barley crops

clock 05 January 2026 • 2 min read
In your field: Alan Carter – "You can plan as much as you want, but the weather has the biggest effect on the farming year"

In your field

In your field: Alan Carter – "You can plan as much as you want, but the weather has the biggest effect on the farming year"

Alan Carter farms in partnership with his parents, Paul and Christine, on a 162 hectare (400-acre), 400-cow dairy unit at Constantine, Cornwall, with 130 milking cows, supplying Saputo. Alan, also a Parish Councillor, and his wife Sarah, have two children, Ross and Dana

clock 04 January 2026 • 3 min read
In your field: Dan Jones – "Farming can take up so much space in your mind you forget what else you're capable of"

In your field

In your field: Dan Jones – "Farming can take up so much space in your mind you forget what else you're capable of"

Dan Jones farms 650 ewes at the National Trust-owned Parc Farm, which sits on the Great Orme, a limestone headland which rises up 208 metres (682 feet) on the North Wales coast near Llandudno. His Farm Business Tenancy covers the 58 hectares (143 acres) at Parc Farm, plus 364ha (900 acres) of grazing rights on the hill

clock 29 December 2025 • 3 min read
In your field: James and Isobel Wright – "Our farm has been clear of bovine TB for 23 years. Just after Christmas, we've got our annual bTB test"

In your field

In your field: James and Isobel Wright – "Our farm has been clear of bovine TB for 23 years. Just after Christmas, we've got our annual bTB test"

James and Isobel, with their two young children, recently bought their first farm, and plan to run beef and sheep over 13.8 hectares (34 acres), renting a further 44.5ha (110 acres). James works for tech firm Breedr as UK country manager. You can follow them on Twitter @jpbwfarm

clock 28 December 2025 • 2 min read
From the editor: Merry Christmas from us all at Farmers Guardian

Politics

From the editor: Merry Christmas from us all at Farmers Guardian

This week from Farmers Guardian editor Katie Jones

clock 24 December 2025 • 1 min read
In your field: Helen Stanier – "Even though everybody knows Christmas falls on December 25, it always seems to come at just the wrong time on our farm"

In your field

In your field: Helen Stanier – "Even though everybody knows Christmas falls on December 25, it always seems to come at just the wrong time on our farm"

Helen is a fifth-generation farmer who farms with her parents, David and Anne Shaw, husband, Craig, and their children, Alfred and Hattie, at Grey Leys Farm in the Vale of York. The farm comprises 162 hectares (400 acres) of grass, maize and wholecrop for the herd of 240 pedigree Jersey cows and more than 200 followers

clock 22 December 2025 • 3 min read
In your field: James Robinson - "Farmers are a special bunch, we are optimists, it is always worth the effort"

In your field

In your field: James Robinson - "Farmers are a special bunch, we are optimists, it is always worth the effort"

James farms Dairy Shorthorns east of Kendal, Cumbria, with his parents Kathleen and Henry, wife Michelle and sons Robert and Chris. The fifth generation to farm at Strickley, he is also vice-chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network

clock 21 December 2025 • 3 min read
Rural Education Matters - Olivia Shave: "2025 has been nothing short of momentous for SoilED and the movement to bring food, farming and sustainability education to every UK classroom"

Blogs

Rural Education Matters - Olivia Shave: "2025 has been nothing short of momentous for SoilED and the movement to bring food, farming and sustainability education to every UK classroom"

Olivia Shave, founder of Eco Ewe and campaigner for food and farming education in schools, explains why embedding these topics onto the national curriculum is essential for public health, the environment and future generations

clock 17 December 2025 • 5 min read
In your field - Emma Robinson: "Flooding has been devastating for businesses and people in our rural communities"

In your field

In your field - Emma Robinson: "Flooding has been devastating for businesses and people in our rural communities"

Emma and her family farm in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, milking 100 pedigree Holsteins and selling raw milk from the farmgate. They also run 300 North Country Mules. Emma is chair of Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution Monmouthshire

clock 15 December 2025 • 3 min read