Farm Life

On our first date Isobel told me I was the first farmer she had ever met. Our second date was a trip to see my sheep and we ended up dagging out some fly strike and she didn’t balk then and hasn’t since.

Change often causes great unease, but when the views of a business sector appear to have been ignored then unease can easily turn to anger.

A derelict farm in the middle of the Peak District provided the pivotal opportunity for one couple to embark on their farming career. Ruth Wills finds out more.

Farming needs to do more to encourage diversity of new entrants, specifically those from backgrounds not typically associated with agriculture, believes Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones. Clemmie Gleeson reports.

Mick Handley, 26, grew up on a hill farm in Slaidburn, Lancashire and is in partnership with his parents, running a herd of pedigree Belted Galloway cattle and 1,000 ewes.

After four and a half tortuous years, we have now left the EU and are trading under different terms. Some would say, though, the journey has only just begun when it comes to Brexit.

Farm leaders have reacted with fury after the Welsh Government announced its intention to press ahead with a ‘lazy cut and paste’ of the EU Nitrates Directive, making the whole of Wales a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ).

Farm leaders have reacted with fury after the Welsh Government announced its intention to press ahead with a lazy cut and paste of the EU Nitrates Directive, making the whole of Wales a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ).

As we head into the new year, it is clear what is on the menu - more of the same. The pandemic is moving at a sobering pace and keeping us all doing what we’ve been getting used to; staying home and getting on with it.

Industry bodies have warned the latest delay to the flagship Environment Bill is ‘hugely unhelpful’ for farmers.