Wildfarmed's Andy Cato writes on Defra's SFI24 closure, why it is vital that farmers receive support for their efforts in nature and climate recovery, and why nature-rich food production should be seen as the most valuable of investments rather than a subsidy by Government
Mr Carmichael, chair of the Efra Committee, writes about the need to address the problem of low farm incomes, how his Food Supply Chain Fairness Bill could help shift the dial for farmers in getting a fair price for their produce, and the need to take on the supermarket giants and give back power to farmers
Despite the Government's own website stating that it would give farmers six week notice before the closure of SFI, the Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner said it was not possible, as it would have led to a ‘further spike in applications'
Mr Dunn said: "Out of the £2.4 billion of budget allocated for the full panoply of schemes under the Agricultural Transition Plan, we need to know how much has been allocated to each element"
SFI24 now has more than 37,000 multi-year live agreements and has reached its ‘maximum limit' and can no longer accept new SFI applications from today
Alistair Carmichael asked for clarification when IPAFFS , Defra's IT system import of products, animals, food and feed system was successfully updated and operating as intended to reflect the policy change made on January 10 in response to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak
Gov has described changes to Inheritance Tax and Agricultural Property Relief as 'generous' compared to reliefs in 1992
The Planning Infrastructure Bill could give councils more power to acquire land through compulsory purchase orders
Shadow Rural Affairs Secretary for Wales, Peter Fox, writes about the Autumn Budget, farmers anxious about changes to Inheritance Tax and Agricultural Property Relief, reduced investment in farming and his concerns for the future of family farming in Wales