Latest News

General News

The Countryside Stewardship Hedgerows and Boundaries grant has opened for applications. Grants of up to £5,000 are available to fund...
Given its dismal performance in issuing BPS payments (see previous articles), the Scottish Government has announced details of a Hardship...
1 February 2016

Scottish Payments

The Scottish Government has fallen well short of its own target to pay the majority of first instalments of the...
1 February 2016

Milk Price Cuts

The start of the month has seen announcements of further farmgate milk price cuts.  First Milk is to reduce the price...
1 February 2016

BPS Payments and Errors

The RPA had paid around 70% of English farmers by the end of January - some way short of what...
28 January 2016

Farm Business Income Falls

Farm profits have fallen significantly in most sectors in the past year.  This unsurprising result comes from the latest English Farm Business...
28 January 2016

Woodland Grants

Woodland support in England is now, in the main, available through the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS).  Funding is available to...
28 January 2016

Payments update

The RPA is continuing to issue BPS payments to farmers across England.  A payment run on 25th January saw another...
28 January 2016

Pigmeat Storage Aid Ends

Following a vote by Member States the European Commission has ended Private Storage Aid (PSA) for pigmeat.  Storage aid was...
26 January 2016

Welsh Matching Service

A new service has been introduced in Wales under the Farming Connect programme.  'Venture' is aiming to match landowners with...
26 January 2016

LFASS Amendments

An amendment to the LFASS eligibility rules should mean some farmers taking on extra land are not disadvantaged.  Currently, if a...
The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 received Royal Assent on 18th January 2016.   Its provisions will come into effect in...
26 January 2016

Farm Payments in Scotland

Delays and uncertainty surrounding the Scottish Government's IT system to deliver CAP support payments continue.  By the end of December...
26 January 2016

BPS 2016 in England

It was hoped that the IT problems that dogged 2015 BPS applications would not reappear this year.  However, worries are...
22 January 2016

Pound Weakens

Since the turn of the year the Pound has been weakening on currency markets.  The relationship between the Pound and...
19 January 2016

Facilitation Fund Opens

The Countryside Stewardship Scheme Facilitation Fund is open for applications until the 18th March.  This provides funds to bring groups...
19 January 2016

Abstraction Licenses

DEFRA, The Welsh Government, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales are holding a joint consultation on abstraction licenses.  The...
In England as of 19th January, the RPA had made payments to around 57,700 businesses.  This is approximately two thirds...
19 January 2016

Muller Price Cut.

Muller has announced a 1ppl price reduction.  This will come into effect from 15th February.  It is its first reduction...
19 January 2016

First Milk Sells Westbury

First Milk has announced that it has sold its share of Westbury Dairies to Arla, for an undisclosed sum.  This...
The Agriculture Commissioner, Phil Hogan, has announced changes to make the CAP penalty system more tolerant.  As from 2017 there...
A number of concerns have been raised around the slow pace of the Rural Development Programme roll-out in Wales.  One...
14 January 2016

Flood Measures Scotland

The Scottish Government have announced a number of measures to help those affected by the recent flooding. They key measures...
First Milk has appointed Clive Sharpe as its new Chairman.  Sharpe replaces former Environment Secretary Sir Jim Paice, who left...
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