Politics

Wessex Lowlines owner Geoff Roper warned they might have to abandon any future activity in Europe after losing £150,000 of trade in the last six months

The battle for the Conservative leadership is hampering progress on farming policy, industry leaders have warned.

Almost two-thirds of farmers (65 per cent) are ‘not at all confident’ that changes to English schemes and regulations will lead to a successful future for farming, according to a new Defra survey.

The two remaining candidates for the Conservative leadership, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, have set out their plans for agriculture.

The UK Government is facing legal action over its failure to give the public a say on post-Brexit trade deals, with farm and environmental groups joining forces to challenge the approach.

Defra Secretary Victoria Prentis has said she is ‘happy’ with the initial take-up of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). Abi Kay and Angela Calvert report.

Farming Minister Victoria Prentis said she will be backing Rishi Sunak to be the next leader of the Conservative Party. Abi Kay and Angela Calvert report.

Maybe it was the oppressive heat in the NFU Cymru marquee that caused Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford to momentarily lose his cool, or perhaps it was simply his own personal strength of feeling on the issue of water quality, but he was clearly irritated by the line of questioning regarding Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ).

The heat was, quite literally, on at the Royal Welsh Show, Llanelwedd, as it returned for the first time in three years in scorching temperatures. Ben Briggs reports.