Recent content by AF News

  1. AF News

    Greening: Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) on arable land

    The EFA requirement must be met by all farmers with over 15 ha of arable land and there are 6 EFA options that growers can choose from; Buffer strips and field margins / Catch Crops / Cover crops / Nitrogen fixing crops / Fallow / Hedges. EFA Catch and cover crops Catch and cover crops are...
  2. AF News

    The importance of planting trees and hedgerows

    The relaunched Countryside Stewardship Scheme includes a wealth of provisions for the planting of hedging, woodland, parkland and orchards. It’s estimated that an approximate 160,000 metres of hedging were removed between 1960 and 1985 in order to amalgamate fields, replace hedging with fences...
  3. AF News

    Staying vigilant against hare coursing

    Brown hare populations are highest in southern and eastern England, but there are also healthy populations across most of the rest of England and western Scotland, so a seasonal rise in coursing can affect large numbers of farms across the country. Hare coursing is at its peak in August and...
  4. AF News

    The many challenges ahead for Oilseed Rape growers this year

    It seems like it takes a brave farmer to grow OSR these days. However, with the increasing pressure on farmers to extend their rotation to control blackgrass and improve soil health, break crops such as OSR must perform to combat these issues whilst also being profitable. One of the challenges...
  5. AF News

    Farm businesses must focus on income shock proofing

    Risk management and protecting businesses from political uncertainty should be the focus for every farmer in 2018. The principle challenge for UK farming is how to drive certainty in an uncertain world. 2018 is the last full year that we will be in the EU and the single market. It is, I...
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