Farm Business

Protections on areas such as greenbelt in the Government’s new planning policy will allow for consideration of appropriate development, according to Branwen Evans, deputy director of planning policy and reform, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The gap between agricultural policy could grow on either side of the Scottish border post-2024, as England moved towards environmental payments while Scotland was set to retain the ‘known quantity’ of the Basic Payment Scheme.

There was a positive atmosphere at UK marts despite the threat of Brexit

With direct payments on their way out, farmers should consider rewilding on marginal land to boost the income they make from food production, says Dr Stephanie Wray, director of RSK Wilding.

The PM must negotiate a three to six-month adjustment period as part of any EU trade deal, so farmers have time to prepare for the new relationship, says Mike Rumbles, North East Scotland MSP.

With BPS on the way out, and Defra not yet ready to offer support which fills the gap, farmers must take steps now to survive the Brexit transition, says Dr Julia Aglionby, executive director at the FCL and chairwoman of the Uplands Alliance.

In the 80s, Thatcherism tore the heart out of British manufacturing, with long-term social consequences. We cannot let the same thing happen now to English farming, says Labour Shadow Defra Minister Daniel Zeichner.

Farmers have hit out at the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) Sixth Carbon Budget report which lumps eating red meat and dairy in with air travel and gas boilers as the highest global emitters of C02.

Increased production estimates for Australia and Canadian wheat have eased the global on-paper supply estimates.

In an increasingly competitive environment for research funding, directors at the Moredun Research Institute raised concerns around future access to Scottish Government funding in a recent press briefing.