27 September

Addressing the audience at the NFU’s fringe panel event during the Labour party conference NFU President Tom Bradshaw said the agricultural industry is at a “pivotal” moment and repeated calls for the recently reported agriculture budget underspend to be rolled over into future years.

England is set to face one of the nation’s worst harvests on record as the impact of last year’s climate change-induced wet winter continues to linger. Wheat yields across England are set to fall by almost 20% in comparison to 2023 yield, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) provisional harvest data.

The Agri-food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) has confirmed that 138,248 fields have been registered for Zone 3 of Northern Ireland’s Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS). This figure represents 90% of the fields in the zone, which are due to start receiving grants for soil sampling from November 2024.

The European Environment Agency has called the EU targets to promote the benefits of organic farming ‘unlikely’. To achieve its objective of integrating at least 25% of agricultural land into organic farming by 2030, the EU’s agricultural promotion policy must increase supply and demand for organic produce.

The Sustainable Food Trust has published a briefing paper for the Labour party conference this week. The paper urges the UK government to prioritise food systems in its policies in order to deliver its key missions of health, economic stability and green growth. 

New research has shown that illnesses related to chemical pollution of the soil and water are responsible for an estimated 9 million premature deaths annually. Moreover, soil degradation has been found to threaten the health of at least 3.2 billion people (40% of the global population).

 A recently published review of understandings of regenerative agriculture in the UK has indicated that soil messaging is fragmented. This has led to confusion among UK farmers and the promotion of soil management practices which often do not correspond to regenerative agriculture principles.

 London gallery Somerset House celebrates 25 years in 2025 and to start the year they will be presenting SOIL: The World at Our Feet. This landmark exhibition will be unearthing the wonder of soil, its unbreakable bond to all life, and the vital role it plays in our planet’s future.