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All articles about Farm policy

Find out about UK and EU government agricultural policy and what it means for farmers. Be the first to hear the news on Defra’s plans for farm payments and subsidies post Brexit, and environmental schemes and funding. Hear how the NFU, AHDB and farm industry leaders’ lobby the government to help shape farm policy.

Advice and tips

FARM POLICY

How to host MPs on farm and influence ag policy

With MPs currently enjoying their Easter holidays, now might be the ideal time for farmers to invite them to their farms and showcase the challenges they face, while discussing the…

FARM POLICY

Tips to survive and thrive amid falling BPS payments

The UK agricultural sector is undergoing the biggest policy shake-up in 60 years, and government support for farmers is facing a radical overhaul. Defra has started its new Environmental Land…

MACHINERY

Q&A: Using CCTV - what farmers need to know

Farmers are increasingly turning to CCTV to protect their farm from thefts. New technology has made it easier than ever to set up camera surveillance, but the rules around data…

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Case studies

ARABLE

What the Budget means for new Arable Insights farmer panel

As farmers head to Westminster to protest at Budget measures affecting their businesses, including the unwelcome changes to inheritance tax, we look at the practical implications of the new regime…

DIVERSIFICATION

Field to plate - diversification on Japanese farms

Japan’s food culture is built on strong regional associations and loyalties, alongside superb quality and freshness.  However, accelerating rural depopulation, falling farm incomes, concerns over food security and a crippling…

BUSINESS

Farming without subsidy - New Zealand's experience

UK farmers must seize the opportunity of Brexit to ramp up productivity and become more competitive, industry leaders have been told. Former New Zealand agriculture minister Sir Lockwood Smith suggested…

ENVIRONMENT

Wild bird project – a blueprint for future farm support?

Farmers in the South West have helped to save a rare farmland bird in a 25-year collaboration with the RSPB.  Farmers and the RSPB don’t always see eye to eye,…

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Insights

FARM POLICY

Post-Brexit farm support - how is Defra spending the money?

One of the reasons many farmers voted for Brexit in 2016 was because they were so fed up with Brussels red tape. Our survey at the time, run in the…

ENVIRONMENT

Water quality and supply: Striking the right balance on farm

Climate change and weather volatility pose major concerns for UK agriculture. In the past year alone, the UK experienced exceptionally heavy rainfall during the winter months, followed by one of…

FARM POLICY

Is Trump's fondness for US farmers truly reciprocal?

Nine years after Donald Trump first gained the support of voters in rural America, farmers remain one of his most reliable voting blocs.  But scratch below the surface, and his…

FARM POLICY

Opinion: Zeichner sets out his vision for farming's future

Farming minister Daniel Zeichner reflects on the challenges facing farmers, and how Defra can help deliver a more profitable future. He also answers questions sent to Farmers Weekly by farmers…

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News

FARM POLICY

Young farmer leads charge against US imports threat

A young British farmer issued a stark warning at a rally in London that the UK-US trade deal could open the floodgates to lower standard food imports and threaten the…

FARM POLICY

NFU Scotland warns tax reforms risk family farms

NFU Scotland has submitted a formal response to the UK government’s consultation on the Draft Finance Bill, warning that proposed inheritance tax (IHT) reforms would have “severe and far-reaching consequences”…

BUSINESS

Rollins calls UK-US ethanol deal a ‘win-win’

US president Donald Trump’s UK state visit has sparked concern in British agriculture, as US pressure to boost food and bioethanol exports raises fears of lasting damage to UK farming…

ENVIRONMENT

Farmers urged to have say on proposed Glyndŵr national park

Farmers in the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley are being urged to submit their views on a public consultation regarding the proposed Glyndŵr national park. The 12 week Natural Resources…

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Opinion

OPINION

Editor's View: What NFU coronation says about our sector

Why has only one person put themselves forward to be president of the NFU? Nominations for the race closed a few weeks ago with the current deputy president, Tom Bradshaw,…

NEWS

Charlie Flindt: We need to talk about deer numbers

It has been obvious for some time that we need to talk about deer – or, more specifically, the explosion in their numbers. There can’t be a farmer or landowner…

FARM POLICY

Eustice: I’ll ensure money coming out of BPS goes to farmers

George Eustice is the secretary of state at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Here he sets out his arguments why the new Environmental Land Management scheme is…

NEWS

Eustice: Creative solutions needed to cut dependence on AN

George Eustice is the secretary of state at Defra. Here he sets out his arguments for why more imaginative thinking is needed to reduce farming's dependence on inorganic fertiliser. My…

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Podcast

NEWS

Trade deals and tree planting debated at FW Question Time

Issues surrounding trade deals, imports, and farming policy were debated in front of a full auditorium at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Cirencester for the final Farmers Weekly Question…

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Video

NEWS

Cautious welcome for SFS but BPS reduction will bite

The Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), launched a week before the Royal Welsh Show, was cautiously welcomed, but farming leaders warned that next year’s 40% Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) cut will…

NEWS

Video: Farmers To Action stages ‘Say No to Labour’ protests

More than 1,000 tractors and farmers across the UK put aside their busy spring schedules – drilling, lambing and calving – to take part in a nationwide protest against what…

FARM POLICY

London rally: Farm leaders vow to continue IHT fight

Farm leaders have pledged to continue their fight against the government’s plans to introduce a 20% inheritance tax on agricultural assets, vowing to keep up the pressure until Sir Keir…

TAX

Farmers take tractors to supermarkets in IHT protest

Hundreds of frustrated British farmers are taking their tractors to supermarket car parks across the country today (Friday 17 January) in a bold display of frustration over government policies they…

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Webinar

BREXIT

What is the future of farming post Covid and post Brexit?

The long-term success of British farming depends on the sector becoming more internationally competitive, says renowned economist Sean Rickard. Post Brexit, the government will be doing trade deals with countries…

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