Farm Business

A new online wellbeing community and counselling service for farmers has been launched by the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institute (RABI).

A question mark hangs over the future of next year’s major agricultural shows as tougher Covid restrictions come into place once again.

The Government has rejected a call from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Select Committee to create a Food Security Minister post.

Consumers, it would appear, have rediscovered their love of local produce in lockdown. Whether it is the commitment to buy more local food, or the resurgence of the humble milkman and doorstep delivery, there certainly seems to have been a sea change since March of this year.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Environment Agency (EA) are to be given powers to authorise criminal conduct under a new piece of legislation passing through Parliament.

New and independent Geographical Indications (GI) schemes will guarantee the authenticity and origin of regional and traditional foods at the end of the Transition Period, Defra has revealed.

More farms were being marketed privately in 2020 but it remained to be seen whether this was a one-off in an extraordinary year

If the Conservatives are not prepared to stand up for farmers now and protect them from low-standard imports, they should not expect rural votes when they come knocking for support at the next election, says Labour Shadow Defra Secretary Luke Pollard.

For too long, the CAP rewarded farmers for inefficiency, but new post-Brexit schemes should help farmers to improve profitability and embrace innovation, says John Henning, County Armagh beef farmer.

Though politicians are still talking about no deal as a serious prospect, behind the scenes, negotiators may be closer than ever to clinching a deal, says Jonathan Roberts, director of external affairs at the CLA.