Blogs

From the editor: England's first Land Use Framework finally unveiled, but what does it mean for farmers?

Politics

From the editor: England's first Land Use Framework finally unveiled, but what does it mean for farmers?

This week from Farmers Guardian editor Katie Jones

clock 19 March 2026 • 2 min read
In your field: Dan Hawes – "This last month, I was fortunate to travel to South Africa to tour some fruit farms"

In your field

In your field: Dan Hawes – "This last month, I was fortunate to travel to South Africa to tour some fruit farms"

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 16 March 2026 • 3 min read
In your field: Alan Carter – "Calf prices still seem very good, which shows there must be confidence in beef production"

In your field

In your field: Alan Carter – "Calf prices still seem very good, which shows there must be confidence in beef production"

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 15 March 2026 • 3 min read
Ed Miliband: 'Rural communities who rely on heating oil must be treated fairly and transparently'

Blogs

Ed Miliband: 'Rural communities who rely on heating oil must be treated fairly and transparently'

The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero discusses the impact the ongoing crisis in the Middle East is having on rural families and businesses

clock 12 March 2026 • 2 min read
In your field: Dan Jones – "This is a reminder that farming doesn't operate in isolation. Our businesses are tied into a global system"

In your field

In your field: Dan Jones – "This is a reminder that farming doesn't operate in isolation. Our businesses are tied into a global system"

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 09 March 2026 • 3 min read
In your field: James Wright – "Bovine TB re-tests are a truly depressing reminder of how hard farming can be sometimes"

In your field

In your field: James Wright – "Bovine TB re-tests are a truly depressing reminder of how hard farming can be sometimes"

James, along with his wife Isobel and 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 08 March 2026 • 2 min read
In your field: Helen Stanier – "I would like to see farmers given greater opportunity to use knowledge of their land to work with the weather, not battle against it"

In your field

In your field: Helen Stanier – "I would like to see farmers given greater opportunity to use knowledge of their land to work with the weather, not battle against it"

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 02 March 2026 • 2 min read
In your field: James Robinson – "A generational farming baton has been passed down to me: Dad has retired from mole catching"

In your field

In your field: James Robinson – "A generational farming baton has been passed down to me: Dad has retired from mole catching"

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 01 March 2026 • 3 min read
OPINION: Does the betrayal over IHT mean partnership with Defra will never be possible?

Blogs

OPINION: Does the betrayal over IHT mean partnership with Defra will never be possible?

There was a definite air of positivity at this year's NFU Conference with leaders and politicians all attempting to move on from recent rows

clock 27 February 2026 • 2 min read
In your field: Nicola Wordie – "That's farming in 2026 so far: constant adaptation, measured risks and working with whatever the weather throws at us"

In your field

In your field: Nicola Wordie – "That's farming in 2026 so far: constant adaptation, measured risks and working with whatever the weather throws at us"

Nicola is a third-generation farmer from Aberdeenshire. Alongside her dad, George, she farms 560 hectares (1,400 acres) with 240 Simmental-cross suckler cows and 1,000 Scotch Mule ewes and a small acreage of spring barley, forage rape and neeps to feed the livestock. She is also known as @livestock_farmher on social media where she gives her view of farming life

clock 23 February 2026 • 2 min read