This Week in Farming: SFI latest, Asda’s war and new Subaru

Welcome back to This Week in Farming, your one-stop shop for the best Farmers Weekly content from the past seven days.

But first here’s your markets (opens as PDF). In short: everything’s gone sideways except beef, which charges on again.

Now, on with the show.

About the author

Andrew Meredith

Farmers Weekly editor

Andrew has been Farmers Weekly editor since January 2021 after doing stints on the business and arable desks. Before joining the team, he worked on his family’s upland beef and sheep farm in mid Wales and studied agriculture at Aberystwyth University. In his free time he can normally be found continuing his research into which shop sells London’s finest Scotch egg.

Contact:

Email: andrew.meredith@markallengroup.com

Twitter: https://x.com/Merry_Meredith

Read more articles by Andrew Meredith

SFI closure latest

Last week’s surprise closure of England’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) was Defra not simply upsetting the apple cart, but blowing it up, said NFU president Tom Bradshaw, following a meeting with ministers this week.

Farmers have responded with a mixture of gloom and pragmatism, with deputy arable editor Emma Gillbard speaking to some growers who missed out now contemplating ramping up the intensity of their farming operations.

Meanwhile, MPs are still probing Defra’s claims about the budget being maxed out, and the NFU is calling on agricultural bankers to support businesses with an unexpected hole in their cashflow.

In my editorial this week, I mull whether there is still a case for positivity in the sector – if your answer is yes, then I class you as one of farming’s bulls.

Dairy doings

Long-term planning is the name of the game in this week’s dairy content – packaged as the latest Dairy Update in print.

We have the results from our wide-ranging survey on dairy sustainability, conducted earlier this year and accompanying analysis that shows the value respondents still place on finding new efficiencies.

There is also this pair of articles on goal-setting and accessing finance for growth – two factors needed to sustain long-term success for many.

High-tech savings

Nitrogen efficiency is in the spotlight for Revesby Estate’s farm manager Peter Cartwright, who welcomed arable editor Richard Allison back for a look around.

He found that new variable-rate fertiliser deployed in on-farm trials by agronomy firm Agrii could have saved some £13,500 if the programme had been rolled out across all 400ha of wheat (with extra on top for those with the relevant SFI option, if they got in).

Elsewhere, our Crop Watch agronomists are focused on the level of disease risk in winter crops and spring drilling progress, and arable farmer focus writer Annabel Hamilton talks us through the rationale behind diversifying into laying hens.

Country cars

“There’s much to hate about hare coursers, but they do know a good 4×4 when they see one – and the Subaru Forester’s tolerance for abuse is almost unmatched.”

That’s the unimprovable opening line from machinery editor Oliver Mark’s review of the latest iteration of a car that has for a long time prioritised function over form – has anything changed?

Oliver has also taken a trip to Camarthenshire for the latest What’s in Your Shed?, meeting one-man-band Aled Jones who runs him through the operations he offers with his five-tractor fleet.

Who’s up and who’s down?

Asda suppliers will be feeling gloomy this week as they eye the company’s pledge to start a price war with its retail rivals – but the supermarket has said this will not come at the expense of farmers.

Asda has also recently dropped its pledge to source only British poultry, although it has assured the NFU this is a temporary issue.

On the up this week are rural racing fans in Oxfordshire, who will be off to Newbury Racecourse on the cheap today (22 March) after organisers offered anyone arriving on a tractor a discounted ticket.