The Source

“My membership with the Society of Agriculture is vital. It ensures I stay at the forefront of industry news, provides a platform for continuous professional development, and builds the trust necessary to support the farming community effectively. In this Q&A, I share a bit more about my journey with the Society and why staying 'industry-active' is the key to successful recruitment.”

The next round of the competition will open on 11 May.  The aim is for £5 million of government grant funding to attract at least £10 million in private investment.  The application window will remain open until 17 June.

“When assessing comparative budgets for both my organic dairy clients and conventional clients for the 12 months to 31st March 2027, it is becoming quite stark in regard to how the relative profitability levels of each system are diverging. Is this just a short term difference or will the gap between systems become sustained in terms of profit levels.  It has led me recently to consider whether more businesses should be looking at organic conversion currently.”

In the UK, clubroot is a major problem for oilseed rape cultivation. It is one of the key factors contributing to the decline in oilseed rape cropping, as farmers struggle to manage its long-term effects. Around 52% of oilseed rape fields are estimated to be infected, highlighting how widespread the issue has become. The impact can be severe, with yield losses ranging anywhere from 10 to 100 % depending on infection levels and conditions.

A Defra-commissioned review has laid bare deep-rooted challenges facing England’s upland farmers, warning that “top-down” policies are failing to deliver meaningful change.

“In my role working with farmers across the UK, I regularly see the pressures businesses face - from volatile input prices to tightening margins and unpredictable weather. The real question may not be who we compete with, but how much we could gain by working together.

When temperature-humidity index, or THI, increases, claw lesions often follow around two months later. This two-month lag means that by the time lame cows begin to appear in greater numbers, the hot spell that contributed to the problem may already be forgotten. The result is that farms end up treating the aftermath without fully addressing the cause.

Over the past 12 years, the Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) has generated over 3,000 benchmarking reports on a range of crops, including peas and beans.

Growing cover crops under vines—with no bare soil present in the vineyard—may be regarded as a radical concept by some traditional growers, but the practice can yield significant benefits.

With limited research on farmed red deer especially at housing, and the lack of commercial deer farming outside of the UK and New Zealand, there was a need to look at deer farming systems, other livestock systems and non-farmed species to draw conclusions to better manage a semi domesticated species.

Insect agriculture is a potential solution to three challenges facing the broiler chicken industry: pressure to move away from traditional to ‘sustainable’ protein sources in broiler feed, demands for higher animal welfare from interest groups, and how to combat the ongoing concerns caused by land application of poultry manure

The central message is that there is enough land to build homes, restore nature, expand renewable energy, and maintain food production – provided it is used in a more efficient and multifunctional way.