The Source

While global wheat supplies remain comfortable on paper, several supportive elements are emerging. Strong exports, constrained Black Sea flows, South American weather, and above all geopolitical tension in the Middle East create a developing risk profile. Downside pressure may continue to be gradual, but any external shocks, particularly through energy markets, could trigger a swift and meaningful rebound, providing new selling opportunities. In that context, UK wheat prices look open to upside potential if global events break in a supportive direction.

A review from researchers at Northwest A&F University outlines a framework for breeding crops that enhance soil carbon storage while maintaining — or even improving — productivity. Crops should be bred to not only bring higher yields, but store more carbon, according to Chinese researchers — who also set the stall out for how it could be done.

Our approach integrates farm operational and production data, remote sensed imagery and data, ecological modelling and state and transition models to generate accounts that contain verifiable information about the extent and condition of natural capital assets, indicators of the ability of these assets to generate a range of intermediate and final ecosystem services (e.g. habitat maintenance for biodiversity, forage for livestock, carbon sequestration, pollination, soil regulation, shade and shelter) and environmental performance at the farm scale.

The Renters’ Right Act 2025 (“the Act”) represents one of the most significant reforms to residential letting law in recent decades. Although much of the public conversation focuses on the urban rental market, the Act will have important implications for farmers, estate owners, advisers and rural businesses who let cottages, farmhouses, or tied accommodation. This article provides an overview of the key changes and explores how they may affect occupancy arrangements within the rural economy.

Minimizing the use of artificial fertilizer nitrogen (AFN) and optimizing conditions for biologically fixed nitrogen (BFN) in association with clover is a cost-effective strategy for lowering emissions from dairy farms. The objectives of the present study were to examine the productivity of clover-BFN-grassland for pasture and milk production, to quantify the BFN that underpinned this productivity, spring growth and the length of the growing season, nutritive value of pasture at different stages of the growing season and feed budgets.  

High yields have lower C footprints per tonne of output and so make economic sense for farm businesses. Moving beyond land sharing vs land sparing. An integrated place-based approach. Yield is king... in the right contexts

Recent evidence from a major US-EU study concludes that innovation-led productivity growth has been the single most important factor limiting agricultural emissions globally, enabling more food to be produced with less environmental impact. Meanwhile, Defra’s National Security Assessment warns that biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse threaten global food supplies, making UK reliance on imports increasingly risky. And research led by Professor Andrew Balmford of the University of Cambridge further shows that farm policies which reduce UK food production can displace environmental damage to more biodiverse regions overseas, worsening global biodiversity loss.

We need a crop husbandry strategy that deals with the long-term climate trends for warmer conditions and the greater likelihood of very high temperatures, whilst also being resilient to seasonal challenges of long dry or wet periods. We do not know the weather conditions of the growing season before it happens, so we need to grow crops that are resilient to both dry and wet condition. A few key factors to get right include: maximising rooting depth, ensure sufficient N and P for canopy longevity and achieving well drained fields.

The transplanting of large trees is often seen as an acceptable compromise between development ambition and environmental responsibility. In practice, however, relocating established trees is one of the most complex and high-risk interventions in the built environment. Success is governed not by good intentions alone, but by biological limits, logistical realities, long lead times, significant cost and sustained aftercare. When any of these factors are underestimated or overlooked, failure is not just possible, it is likely, writes Aaron Morley at Ruskins, the tree transplanting and soil specialist

Biostimulants are products that stimulate plant growth independently of the product's nutrient content. Efficacy testing is crucial given that many commercial products on the market have been shown to be ineffective.

Rapeseed cake or oil reduced enteric methane with similar growth to control cattle. Diets had no negative metabolic effects or effects on rumen fermentation. Diets had no effect on the fatty acid composition of the M. longissimus dorsi. Rapeseed ingredients showed promise as a dietary methane mitigation strategy.

This paper is an assignment submitted to De Montfort University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of LLM in Environmental Law by Andrew Brown. The scenario covered is one which occurs frequently. The assignment is to advise (the fictitious) Tynecastle Water Company as to any criminal and/or civil liability it may incur as a result of the water pollution incident.