A few years ago, our plan was to mitigate the loss of direct payments through diversification, but poor weather and prices mean that additional cash is being used to keep the farm afloat today, says Cornish lamb and beef farmer Rona Amiss.
The Agriculture Bill has potential to deliver for the environment, but the Government鈥檚 insistence on penny pinching during the transition period is likely to drive the farmers needed to implement the policy out of business, says Tim Farron MP, Lib Dem farming spokesman.
Labour has not always done the best job of speaking for the countryside, but farmers need us to raise their concerns now more than ever, because uber-loyal Tories afraid of Number 10 won鈥檛, says Shadow Defra Secretary Luke Pollard.
The Government鈥檚 post-Brexit agriculture reforms provide an opportunity for farms to become more prosperous, but those who resist the push to become 鈥榩ark keepers鈥� risk being the first to go out of business, says independent consultant Derrick Wilkinson.
NFU Scotland has launched its policy proposals for the next decade with the period up to 2024 chiming closely with the Scottish Government鈥檚 well-aired Stability and Simplicity programme.
Latest figures from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) show almost 99 per cent of eligible farmers under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) have received payment by February 29, a 1.4 per cent improvement on last year.
A Treasury plan to slap higher duty on red diesel for farm vehicles has been branded 鈥榤adness鈥� by a leading farm group.
UK farmers could benefit from new onshore wind energy subsidies, following the Government鈥檚 latest ruling which allows projects to compete for contracts to generate clean power.
The Labour Party has warned offering lump sum payments to help older farmers retire will not necessarily give new entrants access to land, and may drive consolidation in the sector.
The Tenant Farmers鈥� Association (TFA) has called on the Chancellor to reject his adviser鈥檚 suggestion that the UK does not need farmers.