Environment

Young Farmers’ Clubs (YFCs) have pledged to put local produce at the top of the agenda following a recent vote at the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs’ (NFYFC) 90th Annual General Meeting in Warwickshire.

Farmers must take a different approach to waste and the ‘cycle of life’ if they are to meet the challenges posed by global economic forces, Defra secretary George Eustice has insisted.

For mixed farmer Tom James, sustainability falls between social, economic and environmental pillars with the environmental aspect, he says, gaining the most momentum in the industry since the late 1990s because of its emotive credentials.

Having taken over the farm tenancy taken on by his father in 1966, Bruce Mackie farms some 30 miles north of Aberdeen, where he milks 250 cows through four Lely robots on an organic system and produces yoghurt on the farm under the Rora Dairy brand.

A group of Devon-based farmers have been praised for helping to preserve one of the county’s most historic waterways.

British retailers are being urged to help create a market for home-grown protein crops to help reduce livestock farmers’ reliance on harmful soya imports.

Farmers are working hard to improve rivers faster than water companies with much bigger profits, according to the Liberal Democrats.

Farmers producing electricity have been urged to apply for funding to meet new regulations coming in on September 1.

The five-year Farm Net Zero project aims to investigate the contribution agriculture can make to achieve the net zero target. Rebecca Jordan visits one of the farms taking part.