The Source

It’s Back! Farm Safety Week returns this summer from 20-24 July for its 14th annual campaign, managed and funded by the team here at the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) and this year, we’re doing things a little differently… 

Quite often, I get asked by clients: “What makes the top farmers stand out from the rest?” “What are the top 10% doing that the other 90% are not?” 

"Broadly, the changes only apply to new applications for planning permission made from 6 August. To note, planning permissions and applications for permission already submitted will continue to be subject to existing BNG legislation. " 

Pressure to reduce the use of plastic on bales comes from many directions, with wrap costs climbing, disposal often difficult and expensive, and plastic in fields and hedgerows unsightly and potentially damaging to livestock and wildlife. Its use may even incur a tax in future. 

Western Europe has been hit by a series of intense heatwaves in recent months with temperature records being broken in both May and June in GB. With climate change and more extreme fluctuations in weather becoming a fact of life we look at what the impact is on milk production and what this means for the future, both short and long-term. 

Researchers from The James Hutton Institute have published a report outlining a national strategy for Scotland to monitor and protect its natural environment, using environmental DNA (eDNA) and other biomolecules to track biodiversity and environmental health.

Cattle are being used to help fight wildfire risk on one of Wales’s rarest landscapes, as a community grazing scheme tackles flammable vegetation and restores biodiversity.

Applying crushed basalt rock or beneficial soil microbes to newly planted woodlands can increase early tree growth and carbon storage, according to a new study.

Lower fertiliser rates reduced aphid pressure in greenhouse tomatoes while maintaining yields, suggesting nutrient management could support biological control.

Scaling up AD remains challenging as biomethane is more expensive to produce than natural gas, with uncertainty over whether the best policy approach is to adopt a producer-focused, state-driven, circular economy model or a market-driven model focused solely on biomethane. 

“We would be very grateful for expert input from Society of Agriculture members and others with relevant knowledge of these technologies and their adoption in UK farming.”

As part of the Ceres Innovation Group, we’re sharing monthly reflections on the innovations, technologies and ideas shaping agriculture. The aim isn’t simply to highlight new products, but to explore where they may add value in practical farming systems and where further evidence is needed before widespread adoption.