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Nia Griffiths, 29, is from Aberdeenshire and works on her partner’s livestock farm situated near Ballater in Royal Deeside.

UK farming really does offer so much, and Farming Minister Victoria Prentis highlights this, with food production being the tip of the iceberg.Ìý

Well, 2021 keeps dishing out the surprises to us and as the country eases itself out of lockdown, winter crops refuse to follow suit and have shown little signs of progression this last two weeks. Can we blame them for thinking we are still in the firm grips of winter?

The poster covered the whole rear window of the hatchback. ‘I back the farmers’, it declared. Sat at a traffic light in north London, my heart skipped a beat. Alas, looking closer, they didn’t mean us.

Andrew Clements on a busy two months.

Ian Atkinson on the spring lamb trade.

It seems over recent months that good news policy announcements for our sector have been few and far between, so it was welcoming to hear the recent Government decision confirming the roll out of E10 petrol this year.

Skilled staff are vital to farm business success, but training does not have to mean endless expensive courses for employers to fund. Jez Fredenburgh speaks to a training consultancy specialist to find out what options are out there to benefit both parties.

The exceptionally dry April has significantly reduced soil moisture levels and with only limited rain forecast, growers may have to intervene to mitigate potential crop stress during the crucial canopy-building stage.