News

Top cereal and oilseed growers honoured at the Yield Enhancement Network Awards 2021

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Despite an average growing year for most crops, many growers managed to go above and beyond their predicted max yields, with Lincolnshire grower Tim Lamyman taking the top spots for his wheat yields and his world record breaking winter barley yield.

The highest cereal and oilseed yields achieved at harvest 2021 were announced at this year’s Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) Awards on Wednesday 24th November at the Croptec Show. With award presentations by Tom Bradshaw, Vice President of NFU, 24 farms took home the evening’s top awards for highest yield and highest potential yield achieved for wheat, winter and spring barley, oats, and oilseed. The 2021 winners came from all corners of the UK, as well as from as far afield as Finland and New Zealand.

Familiar names from 2020 made the...

‘Next Gen’ farmers’ get behind-the-scenes tour of Asda

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Written by Bernie Commins from Agriland

A group of Northern Ireland’s (NI) top farming talent – and future industry leaders – recently participated in a behind-the-scenes tour of Asda’s local operation.

Eighteen representatives from the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) Next Generation Forum visited Asda in Portadown to better understand the ‘complexities and challenges faced by the supermarket’ which has 17 stores and a distribution centre in NI, Asda said in a statement.

Thanking the group for their interest and time, Asda’s senior director for NI, George Rankin said:

“As a business, which has always prioritised its commitment to the local agri-food sector, we...

The Farming Investment Fund launches today

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The Farming Investment Fund launches today

Written by Gordon Jones

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I’m pleased to say that the Farming Investment Fund launches today.

This £27 million fund provides grants to farmers, growers, and foresters (including related contractors) so that they can invest in the things they need to improve productivity and enhance the natural environment.

This includes new equipment, technology, and infrastructure.

The Farming Investment Fund is made up of 2 parts:

  • The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund
  • The Farming Transformation Fund

In this post, I'll share details of how to apply and how...

UFU responds to COP26 methane emissions reduction pledge

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Written by Richard Halleron from Agriland

Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) president, Victor Chestnutt, has responded to the COP26 pledge by many world leaders to cut global methane emissions by 30% over the next decade.

He said: “Methane is a natural by-product from cows due to food digestion, therefore it’s very difficult to treat, and the UFU is still considering what this announcement means for local farmers.

To date, through improvements in animal production and nutrient management, Northern Ireland’s farmers have already done good work to reduce methane, but we recognise that there is room for further improvement.

“There has been significant...

COP26: UK joins new sustainability standards board

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Written by Michelle Martin from Agriland

The government, along with 36 international partners from six continents, has welcomed and joined a newly established International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

The new board was established by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) foundation today, November 3, at COP26.

The aim of the ISSB is to develop a comprehensive, global baseline for sustainability reporting standards, under robust governance and public oversight.

This information will be available on a voluntary basis, i.e. for investors or companies to review a business’ progress, or adopted for jurisdictions, i.e. governments.

Setting the standards​


The IFRS foundation has published two prototype standards to help the newly-formed...

Research reveals ‘significant’ insights into genetic makeup of wheat

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Written by Richard Halleron from Agriland

Rothamsted Research scientists have recently made a series of unexpected discoveries within the wheat genome which, it says, should lead to new wheat varieties over the coming years.

Looking at almost 1,300 of the ‘promoter’ regions that regulate the activity of genes in 95 different commercial, landrace and ancestral wheats, the team has shown that these promoter regions are remarkably similar when different wheat varieties are compared.

Research also revealed that these promoter regions have remained mostly unchanged meaning they are likely to be as important as the part of the gene coding for proteins.

Also, when slight differences between individual varieties are seen, these could have significant impacts on plant traits.

Such traits...

NI agri-food stakeholder groups discuss climate change bill with committee

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Written by Richard Halleron from Agriland

The Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) recently submitted oral evidence to members of the Stormont Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (AERA) committee on the content and potential impact of the Northern Ireland Climate Change Bill (No.2).

This draft legislation was recently introduced to the Northern Ireland Assembly by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in conjunction with agriculture minister, Edwin Poots.

“We were accompanied by representatives from a wide range of food industry bodies, including the Northern Ireland Meat Exporters’ Association,the Ulster Farmers’ Union [UFU], Northern...

Update on the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot

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Update on the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot

Written by Lisa Applin

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In July, we opened the applications window for farmers to join our Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive is 1 of the 3 new environmental land management schemes. It sits alongside the future Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery schemes.

Through the Sustainable Farming Incentive, farmers will be paid for environmentally sustainable actions – ones that are simple to do and do not require previous agri-environment scheme experience.

We are piloting the scheme to...

35% of English and Welsh farmers possibly/probably depressed

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Written by Michelle Martin from Agriland

The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) has today, Thursday, October 14, published the findings of The Big Farming Survey, which shows 35% of English and Welsh farmers are either possibly or probably depressed.

The survey, based on over 15,000 responses, concentrates on the health and well-being of the farming community in England and Wales in the 2020s.

The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) is a national charity that provides support to the farming community across England and Wales.

Mental health​


Mental well-being, the survey notes, describes our ability to cope with the ‘ups and downs’ of everyday life.

According to the survey, 14% of the farming community is ‘possibly depressed’ while...

Deere Studio Evening Events

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With special guests including Gareth (aka Donkey) from Grassmen on The Forager Show, which is this Wednesday Evening. Full event details are here for the Forage Show: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/355610/

Will and Tom Carlisle of Rowles Farm on The Combine Show plus machinery journalist and now founder of @Landpower TV James Rickard on The Tractor Show, you'll want to save these evenings! We will send out alerts closer to the events to remind you they are on and all 3 are in the TFF calendar...

M&S commits to sustainable agriculture through 5-year programme

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Written by Rachel Martin from Agriland

M&S has committed to sustainable agriculture through a new five-year collaborative programme designed to help its Select Farmers gain resilience to the biggest environmental challenges they face.

The ‘Farming with Nature’ programme will provide farmers with industry-relevant, specialist support in the areas of climate change, biodiversity, soil health and water usage to help them to become more sustainable and deliver measurable improvements to their businesses.

Farming with Nature​


As part of the project, the own-brand retailer has established 17 Indicator and Innovation Farms across the UK, spanning fresh produce, dairy, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, chicken and eggs.

The farms will be supported by M&S-funded...

Rhug Lamb served at British Embassy in Dubai to showcase Welsh food and drink

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Written by William Kellett from Agriland

Rhug Organic PGI Welsh Lamb was served recently at the British Embassy in Dubai at an event to showcase Welsh food and drink.

The guests enjoyed poached and roasted saddle of Rhug Organic Welsh lamb, whipped pine nuts and salsa, for their main course.

Held at the Consul General’s Residence at the British Embassy Dubai, the Welsh Government event was hosted by Her Majesty’s Consul General to Dubai and the Northern Emirates, Simon Penney, and the Welsh Government’s envoy to the UAE, Paul Gyles.

Sixteen guests were invited to the event on Tuesday, September 28, including senior members of retailer or distributor companies based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The event signalled the start of the Taste Wales celebrations which take place next...

Introducing the Annual Health and Welfare Review

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Introducing the Annual Health and Welfare Review

Written by Jonathan Statham

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In this guest post, Jonathan Statham introduces the Annual Health and Welfare Review.

Jonathan is a cattle vet and chair-elect for England’s Animal Health and Welfare Board. He has 25 years of experience in veterinary practice, including a range of wider industry and academic roles. He is still active in practice at Bishopton Veterinary Group in Yorkshire.


Over the past couple of years, I’ve worked with farmers, the Defra team and other specialists to develop the new Animal Health and...

Project launched to measure environmental performance of food and drink sector

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Written by William Kellett from Agriland

A project to establish standardised metrics to measure environmental performance of the food and drink sector has been launched by the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency – working in partnership with the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Waste and Resources Action Programme and the British Standards Institute – is aiming to make it simpler for businesses and for the public to understand the environmental performance of companies in key areas such as greenhouse gas reduction and resource efficiency.

The initiative will help manufacturers to more effectively communicate their environmental performance to the public, minimising the...

New report underlines need for joined-up action to protect rivers

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New report underlines need for joined-up action to protect rivers

Written by Defra Press Office

A wide river is in view in a valley in the background, a drystone wall is behind the river, and large, green trees are prominent in the scene.


The Rivers Trust has today launched its State of Our Rivers report aiming to allow the English public understand and explore the health of their rivers on a national and local scale.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow and Environment Agency Director John Leyland attended the launch panel to discuss the ways in which the...

LIVE - DEFRA SFI Janet Hughes “ask me anything” 19:00-20:00 20th September (Today)

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Hello, I’m Janet Hughes. I’m the Programme Director for the Future Farming and Countryside Programme in Defra – the programme that’s phasing out the Common Agricultural Policy and introducing new schemes and services for farmers.



Today (20 September) between 7pm-8pm, I and some of my colleagues will be answering your questions about our work including the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Farming in Protected Landscapes, and our test and trials.



We’ll try to answer at least 15 of your top voted questions, so please vote on the questions you’d most like me to answer.



You can read more about our Future Farming policy on our blog.



I’ve answered some of your questions previously: you can watch the videos on...

Speculative coverage on the gene editing consultation response

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Speculative coverage on the gene editing consultation response

Written by Defra Press Office

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There has been coverage today in the I and the Guardian, reporting on speculation around the upcoming government response to the recent Gene Editing consultation, which closed on 17th March.

A full government response, which will include a thorough analysis and summary of the responses to the consultation and which will set out our next steps, will be published in due course.

Gene editing has the ability to harness the genetic resources that mother nature has provided, such as breeding...

Claas launches new line of Liner rakes

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Written by Justin Roberts from Agriland

Claas has just unveiled three completely new four-rotor rakes with working widths of 15m, 13.6m and 12.7m. These maximum spans widths can be adjusted by 3.40 to 4.90m depending on the model,

Claas telescopic arm

The new range has been designed to offer low transport heights, improved ground-contour following by the rotors, and ease of handling, according to Claas.

Adjustable working width​


One major development are the new telescopic arms which extend and retract by means of a three-stage patented system.

This comprises a ‘C’ profile and slide rails, enabling rapid...

New regenerative grass seed Estate Range launched

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New regenerative grass seed Estate Range launched

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A new regenerative Estate Range of grass seed has been launched to the market by Lincolnshire-based seed specialist Cope Seeds and Grain.



Launched to complement integrated farming systems, the range will enable landowners to reduce input expenditure, provide nutritious grazing for cattle and sheep, and improve soil health a top priority for UK farms.



The range of premium mixtures has been formulated in association with one of Europes leading grass breeders and brings together some of the top NIAB recommended varieties within each mixture...

Outlook for 2021 maize harvest

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Following a couple of bumper maize growing years, it is looking likely that maize crop yields this season will be more typical,
if not slightly lower, than usual and we could see a split in harvest dates due to there being two distinct drilling periods this year.
If we compare crop heights in June and July last year to this year, as the images below highlight,
some crops are much further behind now compared to last year.
This could mean a considerably later harvest, even into the end of October/November.
There is also the possibility of some crops struggling to reach maturity before the cold weather sets in this year.
If harvest is delayed, the weather may impact operations and the quality of the crop...
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