Farmers Guardian and scores of others across the agriculture sector have long argued that the greening of support payments poses an inherent threat to food security in this country. 

A glance at the Farmers Guardian website’s ‘most read’ section provided an interesting snapshot of what was capturing the attention of readers this week.

As I write this a few days before Christmas, my eldest son buzzes round the house in a form of festive hysteria.

LAMMA Show has been moved from January to May in response to the unfolding Covid-19 surge.

That the country needs coherent solutions to the structural problems it faces around labour and creaking supply chains is nothing new. Whether it has a Government fit enough to deliver such solutions is another matter altogether.

Drivers of UTVs should always use the vehicle’s seatbelts and not assume the roll-cage will prevent serious injury or death, safety chiefs have warned.

When the UK nations started formulating their own farming policies in wake of leaving the EU, there was much talk of ’pushing money up the hill’; the insinuation being that those in the uplands would be properly rewarded for their role in managing the environment at a landscape scale.

Trees have been hitting the headlines this week in the wake of Storm Arwen. Such has been the devastation wrought in parts of the country by the bad weather and strong winds that the damage and amount of toppled trees is like nothing seen in the past 20 years, according to some.

In farming circles we know that Christmas is approaching not through gaudy lights plastered to houses or driveways, but the fact winter fairs are taking place across the UK and quality stock is on display.

Spiralling costs are another headache most farmers could simply do without. With some sectors facing a real squeeze on the availability of labour, this will add another layer of anxiety after a period of good prices.