The Source

How can the UK’s innovation support landscape better meet the needs of rural businesses?

In every age group, women in farming reported lower average mental wellbeing scores than the national population. 36% of all respondents had scores indicative of low wellbeing while only 4% had scores indicative of high wellbeing.

New research confirms that varying nitrogen (N) fertiliser rates within a field result in only minor improvements to yield, gross margin, and greenhouse gas emissions compared to a flat optimum N rate for winter wheat, winter barley, and oilseed rape.

A new toolkit from the Slimers project is aiming to improve how UK farmers tackle one of their most persistent pests – the grey field slug.

Changes to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) rules coming into force on 6th August 2026 will remove a significant planning hurdle for many agricultural developments.

Agribusinesses cannot afford to adopt ecological practices out of pure sentimentatlity. To survive, an ecological intervention must be fundamentally wired to the balance sheet.

A culture of underreporting is hiding the true extent of workplace injuries in UK agriculture, according to new research from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

The financial year ended 31 March 2026 was a stronger one for some UK dairy farmers, but the situation now is very different, with a significant drop in milk price alongside drought conditions.  Alongside this, January 2027 may bring a large tax bill, according to the annual Milk Cost of Production report by Old Mill accountants and the Farm Consultancy Group.

Farming in 2026 generates more data than ever before, but for many businesses the greatest challenge is connecting and using data effectively. At Overbury Farms in Gloucestershire, longstanding RASE member Penelope Bossom and farm manager Jake Freestone have been tackling exactly that problem.

Vote for your favourite tree to help us crown this year’s Woodland Trust Tree of the Year.

Increased uncertainty in the agricultural sector encouraged both landowners and farmers to take a shorter-term view of agreements in 2025. 

These trends are prompting renewed attention as to how rural areas anticipate and plan for wildfire events, and what this means for land use, local economies and public services. Against this backdrop, some key questions emerge: how should rural areas respond to rising wildfire risk, and what does long‑term resilience require? Jessica Sellick investigates.