Environment

Farming can help the debate about livestock and the environment become less polarised by explaining how complex and different farming systems are, and what the industry is doing to address climate change.

Almost 50 years on from the closure of the Scottish sugar beet factory in Cupar, a Rural Innovation Support Service group is aiming to look into the feasibility and steps required to re-establish the crop in eastern Scotland.

MPs have been told the Agriculture Bill must contain a sector-specific target to reach net zero emissions by 2040.

Walking charity The Ramblers is asking the Government to extend a deadline that will allow the public to identify historic, forgotten paths and have them added to official records. 

Farmers have been encouraged to apply for funding under a 2021 Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreement to improve their local environment.

The NFU has said leaving the EU provides England with an opportunity to take a different approach to reducing nitrate pollution.

Green groups have warned the environment could be under threat as cross-compliance provisions fall away in the coming years.

The Government’s new green watchdog should be given the power to determine whether future farming budgets are high enough to deliver desired environmental outcomes, a leading ecological body has said.

Farmers in Scotland will benefit from a share of £40m as the Scottish Government moves to decarbonise the agricultural sector.

Farmers have been encouraged to support this year’s seventh Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC), to showcase the important role of farming in the British countryside.