Livestock

A few years ago, our plan was to mitigate the loss of direct payments through diversification, but poor weather and prices mean that additional cash is being used to keep the farm afloat today, says Cornish lamb and beef farmer Rona Amiss.

The Agriculture Bill has potential to deliver for the environment, but the Government’s insistence on penny pinching during the transition period is likely to drive the farmers needed to implement the policy out of business, says Tim Farron MP, Lib Dem farming spokesman.

Labour has not always done the best job of speaking for the countryside, but farmers need us to raise their concerns now more than ever, because uber-loyal Tories afraid of Number 10 won’t, says Shadow Defra Secretary Luke Pollard.

The Government’s post-Brexit agriculture reforms provide an opportunity for farms to become more prosperous, but those who resist the push to become ‘park keepers’ risk being the first to go out of business, says independent consultant Derrick Wilkinson.

Every beef system in Scotland can be seen as sustainable, as can every sheep system.

With the environmental impact of livestock farming under increased scrutiny, what can farmers do to be as sustainable as possible?

The Government has said it plans to phase out ‘intensive’ badger culling in high-risk areas of England during the next phase of its 25-year strategy to stamp out bovine TB.

Nearly half a billion pounds worth of livestock was sold through Scotland’s auction marts in 2019.

A new record of 1,700 for a Dalesbred female was set at the Dalesbred Sheep Breeders’ Association show and sale held at Bentham for a two-shear ewe, shown by Colin and Alan Price, Longlands.

A cohort of agricultural organisations have joined forces to demand the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reform ‘inaccurate’ greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) calculators.