Politics

The UK Government must support domestic fertiliser production if it is to prevent a worsening of the food security crisis, NFU Scotland has demanded.

Farming Minister Mark Spencer has batted away concerns that the increased Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme payments announced this morning (January 5) are ‘too little, too late’.

Farmers are being urged to look again at the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship (CS) after Defra boosted payment rates under both schemes.

Calls for the Government to work more closely with the poultry sector are growing following further outbreaks of avian influenza across both England and Scotland.

Urgent action must be taken to make supply chains fairer if food is to be produced more sustainably in the coming years, a new report commissioned by the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) has said.

Farming support schemes are set to be disrupted this month after more than 400 staff at the Rural Payments Agency voted to strike.

High costs, economic turmoil and extreme weather were all features of 2022 that are set to feature again in 2023

Farmers hoping for a quiet 2022 following several years upheaval due to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic were left disappointed. Abi Kay takes a look back over the past 12 months.

Academics have called on the Government to publish an annual report on the state of the UK’s food security.