Latest farming opinions OPINIONOpinion: Labour's 'anti-farming' policies just keep comingThe government’s inheritance tax changes might be getting all the headlines – and certainly all the protests – but I fear that for many the once-a-generation nature of them is… OPINIONOpinion: Spending time with a 'farming genius'I’ve known Matty since he was 27, and he’s known me since the day I was born. We sit together and talk in the hospice. He was once my father’s… OPINIONEditor's View: Two points of hope over IHT as gloom deepensWeek by week we learn more about the priorities of this Labour administration, and week by week they are doing a poor job at persuading people that farming is one… OPINIONOpinion: Starmer and Reeves are like Laurel and HardyPicture the scene – prime minister Keir Starmer turns to his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and says: “That’s another fine mess you’ve got me in.” Watching this government is like watching… OPINIONOpinion: Is it time for a new political party for rural voters?There’s an unmistakable feeling within the rural and farming community that we’re being sidelined. For years, the major political parties have consistently overlooked our needs, challenges, and values, seemingly disconnected… OPINIONOpinion: Farm profitability is at the heart of IHT challengeLast week, 47 Labour MPs wrote an open letter to the “big six” supermarkets, calling on them to give a better deal for farmers, and to end the harmful practice… OPINIONOpinion: Local food should be at the heart of daily lifeBack in the autumn, my husband and I visited the Morvern peninsula. On a warm afternoon, we walked along a thickly vegetated riverbank, the air full of invertebrates above trout… OPINIONEditor's View: Winners and losers inevitable in land battleWhat should go where on our precious and finite land area, and how should we decide? That is the essence of the Land Use Framework consultation, published last week by… OPINIONOpinion: Why I'm disenchanted with the National TrustI am middle-aged and middle-class so, naturally, I am a member of the National Trust. However, while I used to be confident that the Trust was a good thing and… OPINIONOpinion: A postcard (and some inspiration) from South AfricaI am writing this as a postcard from South Africa. The winter sun must be influencing my mood because this column will primarily be an optimistic one. I am here… OPINIONEditor's View: We must persuade Reed of merits of compromiseCollateral damage… a phrase Defra secretary Steve Reed didn’t utter, but left hanging in the air, when he spoke at the Farmers Club in London this week. Taking question after… OPINIONOpinion: Let's shout about (and count) our remarkable birdsA curious reflection on the human condition is that we have the capacity to rapidly normalise circumstances and treat them as somewhat unremarkable. Many moons ago, I spent six months… OPINIONOpinion: Farmers can be guilty of mixed-messagingReading social media feeds and newspapers, it seems almost everyone is aware of agriculture’s current plight. Even remote tribes from the depths of Dartmoor are likely to have a “Back… OPINIONOpinion: Government says it is listening, let’s see it actAlistair Carmichael is Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, and chairs the cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) committee. Here he sets out why the government has got… OPINIONEditor's View: Vindication for critics of farm assuranceA farm assurance audit is like going to the dentist. Even if you’ve got the best possible practitioner, interacting with them is still an experience to be endured, rather than… OPINIONOpinion: Importing food might not always be an optionOne of my all-time favourite TV shows is Yellowstone (who wouldn’t want their own “train station”?) and one line in particular from Rip, the ranch manager, has stuck with me.… OPINIONOpinion: The UK should build on its precision breeding workPrecision breeding – using technology to guide changes within a plant’s existing genetic building blocks – is a transformational development that will add to the breeder’s toolbox. As a plant… OPINIONOpinion: More supermarkets must show they value farmersHaving done the weekly online food shop, complete with the standard bananas that inevitably won’t be ripe until the spring equinox, I glimpsed a link to the supermarket’s agriculture page.… OPINIONEditor's View: Complacency will risk future glyphosate useWho needs another worry? There have been enough of them in recent weeks. Farmer confidence across the board is at rock bottom, thanks to the government digging in on inheritance… More articles
