Climate Change

Retailers and consumers must be more relaxed about the size and appearance of fruit and vegetables to avoid large-scale food waste, British Growers Association chief executive Jack Ward has said.

Farmers must not be forced to feed sheep a methane-suppressing diet which disrupts natural and well-established grazing systems, National Sheep Association chief executive Phil Stocker has warned. 

Soaring energy costs are forcing some farmers to consider cutting production, posing a food security risk.

The Government is being urged to put together a water strategy to protect food security, as farmers struggle with drought conditions across the south and east of the country.

Farm-based solar projects will be an important part of the energy mix going forward but ’mega’ arrays of ground mounted panels will continue to face opposition, the NFU has said.

Carbon audits across Scotland have increased by almost 50 per cent over the past six months compared to 2021, according to SAC Consulting.

Farmers in Canada are the latest to take to the streets as protests against fertiliser curbs and rising costs gather pace across the globe. 

The countryside has been set ablaze as heatwaves during July and August resulted in tinder box conditions, with more than 500 reports of farm fires reported to NFU Mutual.

The Government has today issued further guidance to support farmers dealing with the continued dry weather.

The decision by Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to suspend water abstractions in mid and north Fife is a devastating blow to vegetable growers and could risk crop failures, NFU Scotland has warned.