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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

Analysis: Tight Holyrood race raises stakes for Scots farming

Scottish farming heads into the 2026 Holyrood election against a backdrop of uncertainty over future funding and agricultural policy, with polling pointing towards a fragmented parliament. Latest surveys show the…

ENVIRONMENTAL SCHEMES

Wales' Sustainable Farming Scheme: What you need to know

Spring is a busy and tiring season in agriculture as farmers juggle the demands of lambing, calving and establishing new crops. This year, Welsh farmers have another task to shoehorn…

FARM POLICY

Welsh election debate sharpens focus on farming policy

With less than a month until voters go to the polls in Wales, agriculture has become a key election issue, with political parties setting out competing visions for the sector.…

FARM POLICY

Meat processors chief calls for SPS deal and fair standards

The British Meat Processors Association has called for a comprehensive sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with the EU, and stronger production standards in future trade deals with other countries. John Powell,…

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News

FARM POLICY

New UFU president highlights water pollution responsibilities

County Derry/Londonderry suckler beef and egg producer John McLenaghan has been elected as the new president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), replacing previous incumbent William Irvine, who had held…

NEWS

Farmers face costs crisis as support ‘not working’, MPs warn

Farmers are facing a deepening profitability crisis as MPs warn government support is “not working”, with rising input costs, policy uncertainty and scheme delays squeezing margins. In a Westminster Hall…

FARM POLICY

High vet costs within SFS options challenged by FUW

Potentially high vet costs and lack of clarity on the actual requirements risk undermining farmer confidence in the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) as the application deadline approaches, the Farmers’ Union…

ENVIRONMENT

Hope grows for dairy and beef permitting alternative

A farmer-led alternative to environmental permitting for dairy and beef is gaining traction, with industry leaders increasingly confident a more workable system can be developed. NFU deputy president Paul Tompkins…

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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

WEATHER

FW webinar: Why farms should adapt now for hot, wet seasons

Farmers are being urged to adapt to climate change sooner rather than later, with summers forecast to become considerably hotter and winters considerably wetter, a Farmers Weekly webinar has heard.…

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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