The Source

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.

The literature indicates that precision technologies achieve average input savings of 8–20% and yield increases of 2–6%, while reported return on investment (ROI) values typically range between 5% and 15%.

As land use pressures intensify and the farming sector embraces significant advances in technology, location data is becoming an essential enabler of more efficient, sustainable land management. As the sector continues to evolve, OS data and expertise remain central to driving innovation, improving productivity and delivering long-term resilience across agriculture.

This study aimed to develop a comprehensive spatial assessment of soil carbon sequestration potential for supporting future decisions on soil carbon stock monitoring and management. It provides a practical and effective framework that supports targeted policymaking for soil carbon management and climate mitigation.

The median cropland diversity increases by approximately 0.24 species per farm in both reallocation scenarios. Our results suggest that farmers can simultaneously improve economic and environmental performance, which would increase crop diversity. Effective policies should address barriers to diversification and foster management practices that both increase production and decrease nitrogen balances.