Details have been published on the Pilot phase of the Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI). This gives a first indication of what this component of Environmental Land Management will look like in terms of payment rates and requirements. However, this is just a stage in the development of the scheme and the final details may well […]
Whilst the barn is not as full as most years, because of low cropped areas and poor yields, those whose wheat remains unsold have been making money from it. In fact a tonne of wheat has risen by £25 per tonne since harvest. This means, for an average yielding hectare of a meagre 7.2 tonnes […]
An Environmental Land Management (ELM) Test & Trial project, focused on Net Zero emissions has been approved by Defra. The project, which has been fully designed by the NFU, will explore practices that can be included in the new ELM scheme which will contribute to farmers reaching the NFU’s 2040 Net Zero ambition. The trials […]
Growers are harvesting a potato grown under the shadow of Covid-19 and very extreme weather conditions. The AHDB estimates a British potato area of 119,000 hectares, down 1.0% on last year. Average yields would deliver a crop of 5.4 million tonnes; slightly more than the flood-impacted crop of last year. National yields are likely to […]
The Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) has released its latest Agri Market Outlooks. According to the Levy Board this has been ‘the most challenging’ forecasting period yet. It acknowledges that, even allowing for the impacts of the weather variations, forecasting production has been easier than demand. Aside from the on-going trade negotiations with the […]
Defra has re-opened the ELM Policy Discussion Document for responses. Our article published on 2nd March (https://abcbooks.co.uk/elm-plans/) outlined the details of the discussion paper which sets out Defra’s initial thinking for the design of the new ELM scheme and included 17 questions for which replies were initially required by 5th May. But due to Covid-19 […]
Following intense lobbying, the Government has announced further support for dairy farmers affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. Businesses which have seen their income drop by more than 25% during April and May will be able to claim under the scheme. The support will be equal to 70% of the lost income for these months, up […]
Reduced global demand and milk products held in distribution depots as a result of Covid 19 continues to put pressure on dried non-perishable dairy products. The GDT auction has again recorded consecutive declines at its events held during March, following falls at both events in February. The latest auction held on 17th March saw the […]
The spread of the Covid 19 coronavirus has seen the world stop working as we understand it. The impact on the supermarkets and food availability for consumers has been clear. Here are our thoughts on the crisis on the wider food and farming industry. They can be divided into short, medium and long-term implications. Short […]
The shape of the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme that will be the main funding stream for English farmers is becoming clearer. The scheme contains strong echoes of the previous Environmental Stewardship (ES) scheme with an entry level, broad-and-shallow tier and then higher level options. The plans are set out in a ‘Policy Discussion […]