13 December

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier offer, one of three Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) in England, to help incentivise farmers to deliver improvements for nature and support sustainable food production. Natural England will work with the invited farmers to help develop applications.

The Welsh Government has announced their Draft Budget 2025/6. The Budget includes a pledge to maintain the Basic Payment Scheme (an EU agricultural subsidy) ceiling for farmers at £238m, as well as an uplift in funding for the Climate Change and Rural Affairs departments which will result in an extra £71.95m in capital funding for farmers, up by 31% on the existing budget.

The UK Government has published a new assessment of the threats facing British food security. Environmental degradation, including soil degradation, nature loss, and increased water insecurity, as well as a long-term decline in natural capital, are identified as pressing threats to UK food production.

A new report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has found that over 10% of global land (1.4bn hectares) is affected by salinity, with a further 1 bn hectares classed as ‘at risk’. The rapidly increasing amount of land affected by excess salt will likely have devastating impacts on global food production.

In their recent analysis of UK government testing data, Pesticide Action Network announced that they found the residues of 48 pesticides which are banned for use by British farmers in imported produce. These pesticides could have serious implications on human health, as well as the health of soils globally.

In Wales, environmental group Tir Natur has launched a crowdfunding campaign for Wales’ largest ecosystem restoration project to date, aiming to address biodiversity loss at its 1,000-acre site through a soil-friendly land management strategy. The crowdfunder currently sits just shy of its £60,000 target.

Cornwall College University Centre have officially opened the ‘Centre for Excellence in Research and Knowledge Transfer’, a state-of-the-art soil science lab based at the Eden Project. The new research centre is set to transform sustainable agriculture, horticulture and soil science in Cornwall.