Funding

Farm groups have claimed the Chancellor’s pledge to reduce VAT by 15 per cent for the tourism sector will see agritourism ‘fight back’ post Covid-19.

The latest farm income figures for Scotland show an industry still worryingly dependent on subsidies.

After the Auditor General for Wales found WG mishandled RDP funds, Ministers must prove they can properly channel money to farmers through their post-Brexit schemes, says Paul Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives.

Farm groups concerned about the Government’s ‘lacklustre’ proposals for its new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme have joined forces to help design something ‘fit for purpose’.

A damning report on Wales’ Rural Development Programme (RDP) by the Wales Audit Office (WAO) has sparked concerns, after it found Welsh Government granted £68m in funding without ‘robust justification’.

Exports Minister Graham Stuart and Farming Minister Victoria Prentis explain how they plan to boost overseas sales of UK food and drink.

More than 90 per cent of respondents anticipate a spike in demand for farming support organisations over the next five years, a new survey by the Farming Community Network (FCN) has revealed.

Defra and the Department for International Trade (DIT) have launched a ‘bounce back’ plan to help farmers hit by the coronavirus boost overseas sales.

Defra non-executive director Ben Goldsmith has called for ‘rewilding’ to be renamed ‘wilder farming’ in order to reassure farmers they are central to the movement.

A massive 80 per cent of rural businesses are expecting their profits to fall in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest Rural Sentiment Survey from Knight Frank.