Latest farming opinions OPINIONOpinion: Struggles feel different when you're 'essential'If I was going to go farming, I would do it in New Zealand. Don’t get me wrong, I love the UK, but it’s difficult – and I’m not just… OPINIONOpinion: Fact, not fashion, must guide the future of farmingIn farming today, it sometimes feels as though whatever the problem, whether it’s soil health, yields, carbon or profitability, the answer always lies in regenerative agriculture. You could lose the… OPINIONOpinion: Farming on edge of the city has more ups than downsI love living where I do. Our little corner of Buckinghamshire is exceptionally pretty, which is why, I understand, my great-grandfather chose this spot to lay down roots in the… OPINIONEditor's View: Greater focus on food production is sorely neededThis week has seen the publication of some pretty scary numbers. According to the inaugural McCain Farmdex report, 51% of farmers have considered leaving the industry at some point in… OPINIONOpinion: We need to re-people the rural sector“Get on our land!” isn’t something that farmers are known for bellowing, but I’ve been shouting it a lot recently. This is because our farm in Surrey became an official… OPINIONOpinion: Combinable cropping area set to drastically shrinkA growing number of arable producers appear to be throwing in the towel. As the editor of this journal noted in his leader column recently, an unusually large number of… OPINIONEditor's View: Do retailers still care about farm assurance?There is a certain type of child who picks up their football and takes it home rather than suffer the indignity of losing the game. The trouble for these fragile… OPINIONOpinion: Many farmers trapped on ‘big ag hamster wheel’What a state UK agriculture is in at the moment, with commercial farmers pitted against agri-corporates, and some commodities running at all-time highs and grain prices at all-time lows. There… OPINIONOpinion: How farming’s past is shaping a resilient futureResilience has always been at the heart of UK farming. Every generation has faced uncertainty and adversity, from technological innovation to unpredictable weather, and every generation has found ways to… OPINIONOpinion: Ag funding needs to target practical problemsWhen it comes to helping with technical research projects, I try to be relatively charitable with my time because it is interesting to see what this plethora of startup businesses… OPINIONEditor's View: Eagle has me reaching for comfort of historyIs there a time of year more associated with British victories than the end of October? The 23 October 1942 was the start of the second battle of El Alamein,… OPINIONOpinion: This is a time of opportunity if you have the visionThis week saw the fulfilment of one of my longest-held ambitions. After decades of growing crops on a patchwork of rented fields, we have just taken a lease with the… OPINIONOpinion: What if expansion or diversification aren't options?How many cows do you milk? It’s the standard dairy farmer conversation starter across the UK. Whenever I’m asked this question, my standard reply is: “150 through three robots”, but… OPINIONEditor's View: In praise of arable's persistent optimists“Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.” This was the phrase that sprang to mind amid a stampede of emails from lobby groups on Wednesday (15 October), taking… OPINIONOpinion: Farms are micro-businesses in a world of corporatesTrump. Love or loathe the man, he knows how to build and protect his home-grown economy. This is in stark contrast to “Farmer Harmer Starmer”. But it’s not just farmers… OPINIONOpinion: My YouTube debut will just have to waitMy teenage son, awestruck by the range and financial possibilities of YouTube farming videos, suggested setting up a channel this summer. We’re lucky to have some inspiring views, abundant wildlife,… OPINIONOpinion: Time for Red Tractor to look beyond its clipboardsAnd so my letter to Red Tractor began… “To whom, I believe, it should concern,” I wrote. “Please think outside the prescribed audit boxes for a few minutes to consider… OPINIONEditor's View: Growing hope on IHT but still no certaintyThere are tentative signs this week that Treasury officials are taking seriously the proposals from tax think tank CenTax to further amend the proposals to reform inheritance tax (IHT), which… OPINIONOpinion: Joke can be on us in this funny business of farming“You know what testicles feel like don’t you?”. I consider my response carefully. “I don’t know what a day-old calf’s testicles feel like”. I have been restraining the calf for… More articles
