08 November

The Welsh government has announced the opening of five Sustainable Farming Scheme preparatory phase schemes. These schemes will offer £14 million to Welsh farmers for investment in on-farm environmental improvements and actions to benefit water, air and soil quality, enhance carbon stocks and encourage biodiversity, including agricultural diversification for soil biodiversity improvement. 

Following the autumn budget, the Treasury had said that only 27% of farmers would be affected by the new agricultural property relief (APR) rules. However, the National Farmers Union (NFU) have called this figure a ‘clear miscalculation’ and have stated that British food production ‘will be hit’ by this policy change, pointing to Defra’s own figures which show that only 34% of farms are under £1m net worth.

Over 11,000 people have sent letters to their MPs to express concern over ‘farmwashing’ - the use of fake farm brands and British flags to give shoppers a false impression of local, nature-friendly produce. The campaign aims to expose and outlaw the misleading and exploitative ‘farmwashing’ practices adopted by retailers.

The James Hutton Institute is recruiting citizen scientists across Scotland in a nationwide soil sampling campaign as part of the ECHO European soil sampling project. ECHO ambassadors will attend an informative workshop before collecting soil samples and spreading soil health literacy in their local area

Processes intended to decontaminate landfill waste have been found to instead increase banned PFAS pollutants, often by more than 1,300%. Leaching from landfills presents a persistent challenge to soil health, with ‘forever chemicals’ such as PFAS causing significant harm to soil biodiversity and function.

New research has shed light on the multifaceted impacts of microplastics on soil biodiversity and functions. A meta-analysis of 128 studies has shown that microplastics in terrestrial ecosystems cause a reduction in plant productivity, soil fertility, soil carbon sequestration, and soil microbial biodiversity.

Former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq has released an eBook about the climate crisis which will be free to access for every UK primary school, marking a step towards better integrating environmental education into our curriculum. ‘Children for Change’ contains stories, poems, and illustrations from more than 80 collaborators.