Farm Life

This month’s column takes the the form of an open letter to MP Lucy Frazer, who represents south east Cambridgeshire.

Martha Hayes, 24, is manager of media and communications at Innovation for Agriculture, which she does alongside running her herd of Lincoln Red cattle and helping out with the family farm in Lincolnshire.

The sentiment that it is sometimes easier to talk to a stranger than to relatives or friends is one that struck a chord with dairy farmer Hannah Lawrence, who volunteers on the DPJ charity’s ‘Share The Load’ phone helpline. Hannah Park reports.

The BBC has upheld a complaint made about its controversial programme Meat: A Threat To Our Planet?

After starting their beef and sheep enterprise on a shoestring and building it up through hard work and determination, Oliver and Charlotte Johnson have now taken on a farm business tenancy in Nottinghamshire. Clemmie Gleeson

Defra’s new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme must stop the uplands from being destocked and wilded by stealth, says Phil Stocker, chief executive of the National Sheep Association.

Farmers already do so much to preserve our countryside, and there is more they can do, but they must be given the tools they need by Government, says High Peak Conservative MP Robert Largan.

A useful discipline to maximise the probability of your farm business surviving the next 10 years is to make some safe, though unpalatable, assumptions, then plan accordingly.

Farmers must prioritise their mental well-being as they are the farm’s greatest asset, a new social media campaign has highlighted.

Autumn is always busy for a sheep farm and with the onset of some very heavy rain and strong winds the season has definitely arrived in a hurry.