Latest farming opinions OPINIONEditor's View: What should be getting you off farm in 2026?I must have attended about two dozen conferences and events with speakers this year to listen to farmers plot, plan and prevaricate on what our industry’s future problems will be… OPINIONOpinion: There are too many people and food is too cheapI can’t be alone in looking at the outcome of the COP30 summit and wondering whether there is any point to these negotiations at all. Delegates flew from across the… OPINIONOpinion: Education can empower us and save our industryWe’ve all heard the proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”. But… OPINIONOpinion: Open Farm Sunday matters more than ever beforeAs Leaf’s flagship public engagement event Open Farm Sunday approaches its 20th anniversary in 2026, its role in shaping the nation’s understanding of sustainable farming, food production and the environment… OPINIONEditor's View: Tricky times ahead for Recommended ListAre the AHDB Recommended List trials for cereals and oilseeds – now in their 81st year of operation – still fit for purpose? The annual updated list of recommended crop… OPINIONOpinion: It's great to see Young Farmers' focus and passionTwo things dawned on me as I sat for two hours in a traffic jam on the M4 returning from another after-dinner speaking gig. The first was that one should… OPINIONOpinion: The list of food we must eat gets ever longerAccording to the latest “expert” advice in the press, I need to add 30g of beans a day to my diet for the sake of my health. Not just any… OPINIONEditor's View: Budget piles the pressure on food inflationThe decision this week to place last-minute restrictions on the right of farmers to protest in London on the day of the Budget was regrettable, particularly as the imposition came… OPINIONOpinion: Time to ditch the outdated Europ grading systemThe worst thing about Brexit, apart from having reduced border controls, increased barriers for exports, and trade deals that ride roughshod over UK agriculture, has to be the continued use… OPINIONOpinion: How to keep control of your data in a digital worldFor many UK farmers, the idea of sharing their farm data with larger companies and the wider agri-food supply chain feels like a huge risk. The perception is that this… OPINIONOpinion: The field drainage crisis needs to be addressedTo misquote Ratty from Wind In the Willows: There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about with field drainage. Certainly, that’s how… OPINIONEditor's View: One card left to play in farming's IHT fightThis week marks a year since farmers brought Westminster to a standstill with the first of the big demonstrations against the proposed changes to inheritance tax (IHT). Farmers, JCBs and… OPINIONOpinion: Climate change makes resilience-building a necessitySummer 2025 in the UK was the hottest since records began. I am hoping my wife hasn’t read that, as I am trying to convince her the warm weather is… OPINIONOpinion: Progress is made on the land, not in a laboratoryIn the north-west of Skye is a sea loch whose sprawling arms reach into the island’s interior. Not far from our croft, on a southerly shore of one of these… OPINIONEditor's View: Can Eagle bring Defra's dithering to an end?“I arrived at Defra and found out we had eight strategies. I’m a chess player and normally you have one strategy.” So said Defra minister Dame Angela Eagle at the… 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… More articles
