The Source

Vaccination of laying hens against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) reduces virus transmission, mortality and outbreak risks in the poultry sector. This was shown in a multi-year field study by Wageningen University & Research, conducted with Royal GD and Utrecht University, investigating two HVT-based H5 vaccines under Dutch commercial farming conditions.

The data tells a more nuanced story than the usual narrative. Succession is not being widely ignored, but nor is it being effectively completed. Most farms are somewhere in between, engaged, but unresolved. That gap between starting and finishing is where the real pressure sits. And in a sector facing ongoing change, that is the point that matters most.

In recent years, Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) has moved from policy concept to practical reality. For many landowners, what initially appeared as an environmental compliance mechanism has quickly become a genuine commercial and strategic opportunity. However, the transition from theory to delivery is not always straightforward…

New research suggests that restoring ecological complexity, rather than trying to replicate historical conditions, may be a more effective way of building resilient ecosystems in a changing world.

By understanding fragmentation as a process that unfolds over time, the researchers believe scientists can reduce confusion, improve evidence for conservation decisions, and develop more effective strategies to protect biodiversity. 

Local food has long been thought of as a “nice-to-have”. But a new review of evidence finds that local food systems are often less dependent on volatile markets and can be more price stable.

With Red Tractor reviewing its farm standards and assessment processes, many agricultural businesses will be looking again at whether they are ready for future checks.

“When you have all these layers in place, then you can really understand the potential of a field and how to maximise it without relying on what is happening in the field right now,”

The opening event of the Dyson Farming Research Centre (DFRC) reinforced the increasingly powerful narrative that agriculture is unlikely to be transformed one research project, or one start-up company at a time.

The messages are mixed and the discussion is personal but having a clear business strategy as a tenant farmer and a good offering to your landlord, understanding their needs and wants whether it be agricultural, environmental, capital growth or diversification, is a great way to build a long term working relationship.

Regenerative textiles have spent years making the case for better materials. The harder question—whether the systems needed to turn promising crops into functioning textile economies can actually be built—is only now being tested.

"The best time to start testing soil organic matter (or carbon) was 20 years ago; the second best time is now"