Written by Agriland Team

Three individuals were arrested following a police chase involving a stolen tractor in the UK over the weekend, according to local police.

Taking place in Yorkshire, England, on Saturday, June 15, the incident saw the West Yorkshire Police, Wakefield District Patrol Team, detain the suspects following a brief chase.

Taking to Twitter, the rural crime taskforce stated: “Stolen tractor from North Yorkshire Police recovered in Castleford earlier!

“Three suspects detained after a short pursuit and arrested,” the statement noted.

Stolen tractor from @NYorksPolice recovered in Castleford earlier! Three suspects detained after a short pursuit and arrested!! #Team5 pic.twitter.com/GEZY9BIOdc

— WD Patrol Team 5 (@WYP_PatrolTm5) June 15, 2019
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The tractor recovered was a New Holland 7840, as evidenced in the police force photo.

Slurry...

Written by Rachel Martin

National charity the Countryside Restoration Trust (CRT) will open its farm gates to families next month for the first Wildlife, Food and Farming open day.

The ‘children go free’ event will be held at the CRT’s flagship farm, Lark Rise, Barton, on Saturday, July 17 from 11:00am to 4:00pm.

The day aims to offer the local community an opportunity to reconnect with nature and understand exactly where their food comes from but will also include family activities to make learning fun.

Visitors will be able to learn about insects and birds in the farm’s wildflower meadow patch.

Head wildlife monitor Dr. Vince Lea, and Lark Rise farmer Tim Scott will explain how the farm supports biodiversity as well as explaining how families can make their own ‘wildlife hub’ at home.

Guests will also be encouraged to enter their furry companions in the Family Dog Show, with nine classes including the ‘waggiest tail’, ‘best trick’, and ‘the dog the judges would most like to take home’.

In 2018, Lark Rise Farm hosted the 40th National Hedge Laying Championship. 100 competitors laid over 1km of hedges in just 5 hours.

Visitors will be able to take a trailer ride around the fields to see the variety of different styles of beautifully laid hedges and how much they have grown in just under a year.

All money raised will go towards the CRT’s aim of protecting a living,...

The price of plenty: how beef changed America – podcast

Written by Written by Joshua Specht, read by Christopher Ragland and produced by Simon Barnard

Exploitation and predatory pricing drove the transformation of the US beef industry – and created the model for modern agribusiness

• Read the text version here

Continue reading...

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. Support the Guardian – it only takes a minute. Thank you....

Written by Rachel Martin

Tenant farmers in mid and south-east Wales have met to discuss the latest Government consultation on Agricultural Tenancy Reform.

Held at Monmouthshire Livestock Centre, NFU Cymru experts said they would fight for active farmers to be recognised for their efforts to provide safe, high-quality food whilst also delivering environmental and economic benefits.

Louise Staples, the NFU senior rural surveyor and NFU Cymru expert panel firms, Powells Rural, Rees Richards and JCP Solicitors were all in attendance to offer advice and support.

NFU Cymru president John Davies said: “Ensuring equal access for farmers, who do not own the land they farm, to schemes that will replace the Common Agricultural Policy remains a key priority for NFU Cymru.

“We are presently facing a time of unprecedented uncertainty with the very real threat of a ‘No-deal’ Brexit and the implications this would have on trade for our key products, the challenge of climate change and the increasing escalation of global trade wars.

Therefore, measures that provide stability to Welsh farming businesses are more important than ever to ensure that our sector can prosper.
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Consultation


The Welsh Government consultation outlines a number of specific changes to tenancy laws, the 1986 Agricultural Holdings Act and the 1995 Agricultural Tenancies Act....

Written by Rachel Martin

The Royal Highland Education Trust has unveiled its very own Highland cow Massey Ferguson to kickstart its 20th anniversary Tractor Tour.

To celebrate 20 years of taking the ‘classroom to the countryside’, the charity will travel 600 miles to 12 Scottish Schools in an MF 7718 S tractor wrapped to look like a Highland Cow.

The eye-catching vehicle which has been supplied by farm machinery dealers the Hamilton Ross Group in partnership with Massey Ferguson.

By the start of the Highland Show, the tractor will have travelled to schools in all 12 Countryside Initiative areas around Scotland. The tractor will then return to Islington in time for the show later this week.



RHET board chairman George Lawrie, who will be driving the tractor, had initially hoped to raise £10 for the trust for every mile travelled.

George Lawrie said: “We are delighted to announce that we have already reached our target of £6,000 and we are hoping to raise even more funds.

“RHET is happy to be working alongside the Hamilton Ross Group and Massey Ferguson and would like to thank both companies for their continued support.”

Accompanying the tractor is a...

NIAB's summer open days in this, their centenary year, start tomorrow at Sutton Scotney and continue through the rest of June. The events are open to all with a full listing and registration details at https://www.niab.com/shop/page/open-events.

BSPB will be at Sutton Scotney, tomorrow 18 June, Morley Thursday 20 June, Cambridge 25 June and Durham 27 June with information about the joint BSPB/NFUs FAIR PLAY on farm-saved seed campaign. If you are going to any of the events, please do drop by and have a chat to us about plant breeding and farm-saved seed. Tell us about your hopes and fears for UK farming and what plant breeding innovation means to you. Have a go also at our simple quiz to test your knowledge of the rules on FSS and be in with a chance to win a Best of British hamper and boost BSPB's donation to

RABI. If you can't make it to any of the events you can also enter the quiz online at https://www.fairplay.org.uk/knowledge, open until 19 July.

Hope to see you at one of the NIAB events in the next couple of weeks.

Written by Rachel Martin

New Monitor Farm host Ashley Jones has the bold aim of generating enough extra profit to replace direct payments within the next three years – about £200/ha.

More than 40 local farmers heard about 29-year-old Ashley’s vision for the business at the launch meeting of the AHDB Monitor Farm project on Monday, June 10.

The group braved a very wet tour of Smeaton Farm in Saltash to find out about how Ashley wants to profitably double his 100ha arable cropping as part of his bid to make money without basic payments.

Ashley said: “We’re keen on trying new ideas. If somebody here wants us to try something, as long as it’s sensible, I’ll give it a go.”

There’s already plenty of diversification on the farm in place to support the whole business – a maize maze, Christmas trees and more – but Ashley doesn’t want that to distract from his passion for farming.

Benchmarking, using AHDB’s Farmbench programme, will be a vital part of the process for Ashley and his father at Smeaton Farm, to help them understand how each part of the farm is performing.

A group from the Monitor Farm project will be benchmarking together, comparing costs and businesses to learn from each other.

David Pett, AHDB knowledge exchange manager for benchmarking, said: “It’s always interesting to see someone else’s figures. But how do yours stack up? We will look at all the aspects of...

Written by Rachel Martin

An eminent American professor of large animal medicine has warned the UK not to dilute its high animal welfare standards for future trade deals with the US.

Jim Reynolds, a professor of Large Animal Medicine and Welfare at Western University of Health Sciences in California, was speaking at a thought-provoking debate on farm animal welfare standards at the Animal Welfare Foundation’s (AWF) annual Discussion Forum in London last week (June 5).

When asked about the feasibility of the UK setting high animal welfare standards for US farms to meet as part of any future trade negotiations, Prof. Reynolds told a packed audience of vets and animal welfare scientists: “If you’re asking advice from an American on farm economics, it is: ‘Don’t give up what you have’.

What you have here is a high-welfare market with a high value to your products. I hope you don’t let that slip.
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He added that maintaining the UK’s current high welfare standards in any post-Brexit trade deals could help pressure the US to change its own.

“Our system has changed over the years from a supply management system to a commodity-based system in which the profit margins are low…so America’s looking desperately to export low-value products. That’s how we make money.

“Keep your high-welfare, high-value products because that’s something we can attain to. Our welfare...

‘Photosynthesis could heal’: why agriculture should be driven by environmentalists

Written by Patrice Newell

Environmental policy must begin at the farm gate because it’s farmers who could undertake the repair work

The juggernaut of globalisation has been inescapable for Australian agriculture. From the start, merino wool was a major export earner, and it still is. Australia has 70 million sheep and wool reaches markets far and wide. Overall, 70% of all our primary produce is sent overseas, including much of our organic produce.

Agriculture is as much an export business as mining, so when I see asparagus from Peru, garlic from Mexico and cherries from California on supermarket shelves, I wonder why we still need to import so much food. The answer is simple: all year-round supply and money. Cheap is the name of the game. Cheap food is as political as cheap power and the supermarkets are happy to comply. The global shopping cart is at a store near you and on your computer.

Related: Australia to import wheat for first time in 12 years as drought eats into grain production

Related:...

Written by Rachel Martin

A one-day workshop will discuss opportunities for British food producers and growers to become leaders in plant-based product development.

Taking place at the University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington campus, the course will examine how the industry can harness the trend of vegetarianism and veganism.

Nine speakers will discuss the effects the trend is having and explore what farmers and food producers can do to keep up with, and benefit from, consumer demand.

In January 2019, Mintel reported that the UK became the leading country for the development of vegan food products – a position previously held by Germany.

One in six food products launched in the UK during 2018 had a vegan or no animal ingredients claim. This has doubled from just 8% in 2015.

The rise has caused concern amongst food producers, and the farmers who supply them, about how British agriculture can keep up, and whether strategies to import more produce are sustainable.

This one-day workshop, entitled ‘Capturing a Growing Market – Developing exciting new products for consumers choosing a plant-based diet’ is aimed at anyone who wants to hear from industry experts about how to face the challenges, and reap the benefits, of providing more plant-based products to consumers.

It is an opportunity to meet, share ideas and discuss how British farmers, food producers and retailers...