Agriculture -Latest news

Farmers Weekly Competition is hotting up in the relatively niche world of small battery-powered telehandlers, with Dieci the latest manufacturer to join the fray. Its Mini Agri-e will be up against similarly sized models from JCB, Merlo and lesser-known Italian maker Faresin. See also: On test: JCB’s debut battery-electric Loadall – the 525-60E Buyers can spec either ...

Farmers Weekly The requirement for developers to deliver a minimum 10% biodiversity uplift associated with their sites takes effect from January next year. This is known as biodiversity net gain (BNG) and its imminent rollout has seen a confusing range of offers made to landowners from third-party operators to deal with BNG units created on farmland. ...

Farmers Weekly Locals of Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, have been left baffled after a series of 2m signs were erected, welcoming them to a new county named “Weetabixshire”. The stunt, which was orchestrated by the makers of breakfast cereal Weetabix, celebrates all the farmers and growers who supply the Weetabix mill, which sources all of its wheat ...

Farmers Weekly An 11-week industry-wide consultation will open on Monday 20 November to help determine whether a digital passport for combinable crop movements should be implemented by industry. Work on the introduction of digital passports has been ongoing for a number of years, with industry groups made up of representatives from merchants, hauliers and industry bodies ...

Farmers Weekly The independent Green Alliance think tank has called on the government to reform payment schemes to provide more support for smaller grazing and upland farms. The group argues that the Environment Land Management (ELM) scheme is proving to be unfair and inefficient, with larger arable farms benefiting more than smaller upland farms. Green Alliance ...

Farmers Weekly Part mulcher, part harrow is how German firm Saphir describes its novel Grindstar. It is designed to work just 20mm deep to encourage volunteers and weed seeds to germinate without losing too much moisture from post-harvest stubbles. See also: Cover crop destruction machinery options compared Work is done by the seven ground-driven knives carried on ...

Farmers Weekly Livestock farms in Kent within the temporary control zone set up following confirmation of a case of the new emerging strain of bluetongue virus (BTV-3) are advised to prepare for surveillance testing. Bluetongue is spread by biting midges and affects sheep, cattle, deer and goats, as well as llamas and alpacas. See also: Farmers on ...

Farmers Weekly The public is being urged to back British farmers this Christmas by ensuring they buy local turkeys direct from the farm. Many UK turkey producers have experienced another difficult year due to rising costs and ongoing problems caused by outbreaks of avian influenza that have led to culls on some farms. The NFU says ...

When and how to complete your annual sheep and goat inventory and how to submit it.

Farmers Weekly The market for farmland in north-east England in 2023 has seen a drop of almost 10% in farmer buyers, but with private investors, lifestyle buyers, institutional investors and a new type of environmental buyer now increasingly active, the market overall shows demand continuing to outstrip supply. While perception points to the supply of farmland ...

Farmers Weekly This season’s autumn drilling campaign has proved to be a turbulent one, with intense rainstorms disrupting drilling and playing havoc with emerging crops. As a result, the AHDB is forecasting that the UK wheat crop will drop to its smallest area since 2020, with a 1.3% fall on last year to 1.698m hectares. The ...

Farmers Weekly The ever-expanding grass kit range offered by McHale now includes tedders for the first time. Both mounted and trailed versions are on offer, with the pictured Propel M6-770 covering the former category. This has six rotors across a 7.7m working width, each of which is fitted with double-hooked tines that are designed to lift ...