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NEWS

Opinion: Farmers' attitudes to adversity makes them winners

In what has been described locally as “the biggest scandal since the horse meat fiasco”, I was given the Beef Farmer of the Year award last year. Whether it was…

NEWS

Opinion: Why we need to invest in agri-tech innovation

Just as farming covers a multitude of different products, systems and business types, so the term “agri-tech” has expanded. For many, it perhaps conjures up drones and robots, but for…

NEWS

Opinion: Blackpool YF minority demonstrate 'toxic culture'

Photos of young farmers at Blackpool were all over my social feed the week I was at a conference in Amsterdam about the future of food. I was listening to…

OPINION

Editor's View: Battle lines being drawn for autumn drilling

Bad generals, it is said, are always at risk of attempting to win a conflict by using the same tactics that won the last war. At Cereals this week, it…

NEWS

Opinion: Knowledge of wild flowers grows with plant project

Very rarely, I find myself on holiday and, even rarer, I am on a different continent. I am looking over the East River to Manhattan. It's an impressive view, and…

NEWS

Opinion: It's time farming groups talked more about sex

I bet you never thought you would see a sex column in Farmers Weekly. But this will be one, in a manner of speaking. It was prompted by recently speaking…

NEWS

FW Opinion: Why we must call out harmful sexual behaviour

Last week we published an investigation which sparked a national conversation about the way women and girls are treated at young farmers’ events. The piece also, it is fair to…

NEWS

Opinion: When regen realities meet the right to roam

At the top of Big Field, tucked away at the edge of the trees that line the bridleway, is a bench. It’s known as “Humphrey’s Seat”, in memory of the…

NEWS

Opinion: Getting heard means getting close to government

Farmers are brilliant at moaning. In fact, I class myself as a bit of an expert. I always feel better when I’ve had chance to rant to the nearest unsuspecting…

NEWS

Editor's view: Facing hard truths about young farmer culture

I love the farming community. I love farmers. I spend my life advocating for you and I’m incredibly proud to do it. But as a staunch friend, I have a…

NEWS

Opinion: Sunak's £3m for abattoirs won't cut it

I don’t want to sound ungrateful but did PM Rishi Sunak, at the recent Farm to Fork summit, really expect me to be blown away by his announcement of £3m…

NEWS

Opinion: Solar investment can benefit farming businesses

Farmers are facing countless pressures, from impacts of climate change to financial constraints, crop failures to disease outbreaks. Combined with population growth, changing tastes and urbanisation, it is incredibly challenging…

NEWS

FW Opinion: New SFI has much to recommend it, but…

Defra is often criticised for being behind the curve, so it is nice to be able to give it credit for supplying details of the 2024 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)…

NEWS

Opinion: Farming should project a positive image

For 193 years, the Garrick Club in London has stood as a bastion of patriarchy. Set in the heart of theatreland in Old Covent Garden, this exclusive club for private…

NEWS

Opinion: Crofting needs a 'competent' government plan

In the old days of the Celtic fringe, having your own cattle was a sign of wealth. A herd was like a bank vault full of gold. A friend of…

NEWS

Editor's View: Clarkson and Cooper are a blueprint for change

Sprinkled liberally with outlandish flecks of showbusiness it may be, but there is plenty in the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm that will be recognisable to fellow farmers up and…

OPINION

Opinion: Supply chain players should understand each other

Here’s a column which is sort of about Farm Assurance, just in case you haven’t heard enough on the subject. First, though, my customary preamble to prove that this wasn’t written by…

NEWS

Opinion: Organic farming – key to longer-term food security

In 2022, the global organic farming area increased by more than 20m ha, to a total of 96m ha. These figures reveal a widespread recognition that organic represents a multi-faceted…

NEWS

Editor's View: Not-so-small soya conundrum needs resolving

What dish or food product is regularly on your household shopping list that didn’t feature a couple of decades ago? Perhaps none, perhaps plenty. There is a bewildering churn of…

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