by admin | Aug 19, 2024 | All, Published Articles
Opinion: Farmers can focus too much on food security Seven years ago, in August 2017, the headline of my first column for Farmers Weekly read “First and foremost, farming is about food”. In the post-CAP world, I wrote it was “vital the core business of farming isn’t...
by admin | Aug 19, 2024 | All, Published Articles
Embracing Agroforestry for Climate Resilience and Sustainability As reflected upon in my last piece, climate change will inevitably drive adaptation in the farmed landscape. This will range from an appreciation that heavily tilled, late drilled arable crops pose an...
by admin | Aug 19, 2024 | All, Published Articles
Opinion: ‘Farmer exceptionalism’ is a dangerous belief Occasionally you read something which stops you in your tracks, and the recent piece in Farmers Weekly by Abi Kay (“Is there a problem with the culture of young farmers?”) was one such. Along, I’m sure, with the...
by admin | Aug 19, 2024 | All, Published Articles
Opinion: No ‘normal’ season since 2018 The period since October 2023 has been merely the latest and most extreme example of the future that awaits agricultural production in the UK as the world’s climate warms. Space precludes me from listing the weather records which...
by admin | Aug 19, 2024 | All, Published Articles
Navigating the Storm: Challenges in agriculture As I write this in the third week of March, I can reflect on challenging times both behind and ahead. On the heavy Hanslope-Denchworth series clays of the Allerton Project, we are yet to get so far even as to have...
by admin | Aug 19, 2024 | All, Published Articles
Opinion: Society and government need farmers more than ever The future of farming is bright, even if it may not feel that way at times.Ultimately, there will be some 10 billion mouths to feed by the middle of the century.The remarkable estimation is that between 2020...