All from last 24 hours OILSEED RAPEAnalysis: Signs of cautious optimism for oilseed rape?After another challenging growing season and a further 17% fall in the area, the UK’s winter oilseed rape crop for harvest 2025 is the smallest since 1983. Higher risk, lower… WORKSHOP SKILLSInventions Comp 2025: Cash-saving tools and attachmentsFarmers have been busy in their workshops getting creative with clever tools and attachments to make life easier and save cash. We round up some of the best of these… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Robot milking couldn't have gone betterFour weeks since we milked the first cow through the robot and, at risk of sounding overly smug, it couldn’t have gone better. The team from Longtown were great to… BOVINE TBBadger cull to continue pending bovine TB strategy reviewDefra secretary Steve Reed has confirmed that badger culling will continue as part of the government’s efforts to combat bovine tuberculosis (TB) until a full review of the policy is… ASSESSING PERFORMANCETerminal sires sought for 10th year of ram genetics projectRamCompare is seeking rams or semen from performance-recorded, terminal sire breeds for the 2025 breeding season. Since its launch in 2015, the national progeny test has assessed more than 500… WORKSHOP SKILLSInventions Comp 2025: David Powell’s novel Spring Bak GateWorcestershire farmer David Powell returned to this year’s competition with another novelty – the Spring Bak Gate. It is designed to be temporarily erected in a field entrance when machinery… HEALTH AND WELLBEINGPie and pint night brings farming community togetherFarmers gathered for a free pie and a pint in Whitehall on the eve of the NFU conference this week, as part of a Farming Community Network wellbeing event, bringing… AGRICULTURAL TRANSITIONDefra unveils £30m HLS uplift and capital grants reopeningDefra secretary Steve Reed has announced a £30m increase in payment rates for existing Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements and the reopening of the capital grants scheme this summer. The… LIVESTOCKRoutine wormer no longer reliable for treating lungwormFarmers are being warned that routine wormer treatments are no longer considered reliable for treating lungworm in cattle, with vaccination now deemed the more effective solution. The warning comes as…
