In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reports on a letter sent by the Efra Committee chair, Alistair Carmichael to the Farming Minister calling on the Government to focus on five key areas to improve fairness and resilience in the food supply chain. Later today Mr Carmichael will be presenting his food supply chain fairness bill in Parliament. And the absence of rural crime in the Government's Crime and Policing Bill has been branded 'unacceptable' by a Liberal Democrat MP
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reports on yesterday's emergency roundtable meeting on SFI, with the Farming Minister criticised for providing lack of clarity on the what the future redesign of SFI will look like, and for showing a lack of empathy for those farmers who missed out on SFI. She also reports on farmers defending Scottish Minister Mairi Gougeon and criticising the level abuse she received online, as she announced she is stepping down from her post after more that half of her life in politics. And don't forget to sign up to our free webinar on Inheritance Tax ( March 27), where an expert panel will be unpicking any updates from the Spring Statement the day before
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown understands an emergency roundtable meeting has been called for later today between farming organisations and Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner to discuss the fallout from Defra's decision last week to suspend new applications to SFI. She also reports on the appointment of Dr David Llewellyn as the independent monitoring and reporting commissioner for the recommendations from the UK Farm Assurance Review. And why a Cambridgeshire tenant farmer has been left 'fuming' at Defra after he was left with no compensation from the Farming Recovery Fund
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reports on the latest from the fallout of the Sustainable Farming Incentive closure. Defra is under scrutiny over its failure to give farmers' notice as the industry questions whether all the budget has been spent. She also looks ahead to next week, a special podcast on Donald Trump, tariffs and what this means for machinery markets and UK farming going forward and the livestock team are heading to Borderway UK Dairy Expo at Carlisle this week, the first dairy show of the year
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown analyses the fall out from the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), with the Farming Minister telling MPs that farmers were not given notice on closure as it would have led to a 'further spike in applications'. The National Trust says Defra's decision to close SFI to new applications will leave farmers facing a 'four month funding gap'. And she takes a look at the NFU's farmer confidence survey which is reportedly at an 'all time low'
In today's Farming in Five, head of news and business Alex Black discusses the sudden announcement from Defra that it has closed applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2024 due to high demand. She takes a look at the comments made by Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner as well as farming's reaction to the news, with farmers branding it a 'shambles'
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reports on new Government plans that could force farmers and landowners to sell their land at a lower value, how lab-grown meat, dairy and sugar could hit retail shelves within two years, and a 'landmark' court ruling for environmental campaign group River Action, which has thrown out the NFU's bid to have chicken manure classed as an agricultural by-product, rather than as industrial ‘waste'
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reports on Defra's import ban of cattle, sheep, pigs and deer from Hungry and Slovakia after confirmed a foot and mouth case on a farm with 1,400 cattle in Hungary. The Farming Minister said the Government will not hesitate to add additional countries to the list if the disease spreads. Elsewhere, she reports on how a Welsh farmer declined cancer treatment due to fear of Inheritance Tax changes
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reflects on this week's main news stories including mounting pressure on the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, with 40 Labour MPs calling for changes to the current family farm tax proposals. She also looks ahead to next week, with a special 'Ask the Expert' feature coming up in Íæż½ã½ã online and in print, where a panel of experts will be answering our readers' questions around the fallout of Inheritance Tax and how to best prepare your family farm business
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reflects on the Senedd debate last night which called on the Welsh Government to encourage the UK Government to pause the family farm tax and conduct an impact assessment. Shadow Conservative Minister Samuel Kurtz criticised the First Minister for her meeting with the Chancellor and failing to raise awareness of the scale of concern from Welsh farmers over the changes to Inheritance Tax, describing it as a 'dereliction of duty'