Politics

Next year will see farmers facing a complex mix of challenges, whatever happens with Brexit, farm business consultants Andersons have said. By Jonathan Wheeler

Defra Secretary George Eustice has said the current ‘buoyancy’ of the UK sheep market may mean the sector will not need to be compensated in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

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.

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.

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.

Defra Secretary George Eustice has been accused of ‘missing the point’ on slaughterhouse investment, after he suggested no local abattoir network policy was needed to accommodate Government plans for shorter livestock journey

Industry leaders have said they are ‘extremely concerned’ about a Government move to exclude the Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC) from considering the impact of agri-food trade on human health.

AHDB has stepped up its marketing and export ambitions in its new five-year strategy, unveiled today.

Farmers and land managers will have greater freedom and more choice in the future thanks to the Government’s new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, says High Peak Conservative MP Robert Largan.