Farmers have been warned to expect a continued spell of relatively high interest rates, despite better news on both general inflation and food price inflation in recent months. Presenting the NFU’s annual Henry Plumb Memorial Lecture in London on Monday (20 November), governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey said it was “far too […]

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The second round of Defra’s Slurry Infrastructure Grant has been launched, with £74m available to help improve water and air quality through investment in slurry infrastructure on farms in England. Applications are now open and farmers are able to claim up to 50% of the building costs for covered slurry stores, tanks, lagoons, and related […]

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Upland farms in England are facing a serious collapse in their incomes under Defra’s post-Brexit agricultural support schemes, modelling by the NFU has revealed. Senior NFU officials said ministers repeatedly told farmers in the uplands that they would be recognised for the work they do and be no worse off after Brexit, but this is […]

The post Upland farms face 37% funding hole under ELM, warns NFU appeared first on Farmers Weekly

Agri-tech business Hectare has rebranded and relaunched Graindex under its own brand as Hectare Trading. The platform creates an online marketplace for grain buyers and sellers to trade directly, and also provides market data. A new app is being launched which will offer live market insights and prices as well as allowing users to view […]

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The number of GB dairy producers was estimated by AHDB at 7,500 in October, remaining level with its April figure. This came as a surprise to industry pundits, with farmgate milk prices having fallen by about 30% since the beginning of the year and dropping below the cost of production for many producers. The number […]

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Sheep farmers who exhibited stock at the English Winter Fair have been recommended to isolate their animals for at least four weeks following “an unconfirmed health issue” in the sheep section. A Beltex sheep showing at the event, held at Bingley Hall, on the Staffordshire County Showground, in Stafford, on Sunday 19 November, is reported […]

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Adapting water treatment technology to a farm setting could reduce slurry storage requirements by 10-15%, make better use of farm nutrients and produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge into watercourses. Research (carried out as part of the Tywi Farm Nutrient Partnership) adapted, combined and repackaged technology typically used by water companies for removing […]

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In our final Crop Watch installment of 2023, our agronomists reflect on what has been a grim autumn disrupting drilling and herbicide applications to wheat.  With wheat drilling unlikely to resume in some areas, thoughts are turning to the choice of spring cropping, although seed availability may be a deciding factor. This combined with nursing […]

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Fliegl has revived the Cargos forage wagon range deemed surplus to requirements by Claas. There was little time for major design changes, with just six months separating the completion of the deal (September 2022) and the reopening of the production line (March 2023). See also: Tips and advice for buying a used forage wagon In fact, […]

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We had our triennial general election last month, and voters delivered a clear rejection of left-wing policies. With that came a crushing and humiliating defeat of the Labour Party, led until her resignation by Jacinda Adern. Swept to power by a populist wave promised to bring “transformational” polices to our nation, and re-elected by Covid-induced […]

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Reiter has slimmed down its merger design for the latest Respiro R8 Compact, with a new chassis and shorter linkage being the primary contributors to a substantial 30% weight saving over the R9. A slightly narrower working width allows it to cover a 6m bout when the two rear belts are working in the same […]

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Continental might be best known for its tyres, but the firm has recently branched out by adding some nifty pieces of technology to its product offering. One of the latest is the retrofit ProViu 360 camera system – which mounts to tractors and other farm equipment – giving drivers a 360deg view around the machine. […]

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It was biblically bucketing down for the first few hours of our annual charity tractor and trailer rides in early November. The tractor was dragging the trailer with its happy inhabitants like a toboggan, glorious mud flying everywhere. Measuring success was simple at this event – a lot of effort from good people, so locals […]

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Young drivers are being targeted with a course which aims to highlight the risks of driving dangerously on rural roads. To mark Road Safety Week (19-25 November), the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) has launched the new road safety course aimed at young drivers in rural areas. The initiative comes as the latest […]

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An NFU open letter urging all three political parties to outline their plans to protect farming businesses from flooding has attracted more than 1,750 signatures. The letter has been sent to the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats, emphasising the vital role that protecting agricultural land from severe flooding plays in producing food for the […]

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The average farm business income in England increased to £96,100 across all farm types in 2022-23, according to Defra’s latest farm survey. During the 12-month period to the end of February 2023, average incomes rose for dairy, cereals, pigs, and horticultural enterprises. However, incomes for general cropping, grazing livestock, poultry, and mixed enterprises all declined […]

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Egg industry leaders have expressed their “significant and serious concerns” about sudden changes to the RSPCA’s welfare standards for laying hens, which they say will cost the industry millions, but for no extra return. The new RSPCA Assured welfare standards were announced earlier this month after minimal consultation with the industry. See also: Advice on […]

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A group of cross-party MPs has expressed disappointment after the UK government rejected its calls to host an annual food security summit. To maintain a consistent overview of the UK’s food security landscape, MPs from the influential Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) committee had called for an annually updated UK Food Security Report, together […]

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Baling contractors using more than 10t of plastic a year need to register with HMRC and pay the necessary taxes or face potential fines for non-compliance. The plastic packaging tax was introduced in 2022 and covers both netwrap and baler twine, but does not include silage wrap. It is taxed at £210.82/t, which equates to […]

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Prolific flock genetics and skilful management have overcome setbacks to get a lowland sheep flock hitting budgets, three years after being established. Farm manager Ben Smith says the accounts at North Falaknowe, Coldingham, on the Berwickshire coast, show upwards of 170% sold for the past two years. Ben manages the farm for owner David Morrison […]

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Biologicals will make up 25% of the overall crop protection market by 2035, growing by more than three times to a value of $30bn (£24bn), predicts Dr John Wiles, global biology leader with Corteva Agriscience. Currently, the global figure stands at $9bn (£7.3bn), but the combined drivers of sustainable production, legislation, new modes of action […]

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Horizon Agriculture has put its DSX no-till disc drill on a serious diet, creating a lightweight version that’s suited to smaller farms. Coulters on the M:DSX are the same undercut disc units as used on its bigger sibling, but rather than being mounted on a heavy-duty trailed chassis, they’re bolted to a simple three-point linkage-mounted […]

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October has been a busy month for us as we opened our farm gates again for our annual pumpkin-picking events.  Every year comes with its own challenges, and this year was the harvest of too many pumpkins. On the positive side, it enabled us to sell wholesale to several competitor patches around the Highland area, […]

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Two odd-looking antennas adorn the regular header of Case IH’s latest Axial Flow 7160 combine on show at Agritechnica. These parasol-like frames loop over the reel and, at their tips, carry radars capable of monitoring the density of the approaching crop. See also: Brace of John Deere X9 combines gobble 170t of wheat an hour The […]

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Automatic turn compensation is already an established piece of technology on high-end crop sprayers, but it’s now coming to the world of granular fertiliser spreaders. Amazone’s CurveControl works by automatically adjusting the rate and spread pattern as the machine travels around a corner, avoiding over-dosing plants on the inside of the bend and depriving those […]

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A popular topic of conversation between farmers is misconceptions about agriculture. It gets people, myself included, all riled up.  Often it’s simply misunderstandings about the complexity of an issue that, to the unexposed onlooker, seems to have a rather simple conclusion: “Cows are killing the planet” or “farmers are all rich”, to name just two. […]

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