Environment

Farmers are being urged to continue to monitor on-farm water abstraction in a bid to prevent a repeat of this year’s water shortage, the Environment Agency (EA) has announced.

Rural campaigners have welcomed news that the Government is considering a rethink regarding land that can be made available for solar farms.

A number of agricultural bodies have sent a joint letter to International Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch demanding that a set of core standards relating to food, animal welfare and the environment be established ahead of any further trade deals.

A Norfolk abattoir has been fined £300,000 after residents claimed they could not leave their homes owing to the stench of decaying poultry.

Rural campaign body CPRE has warned that a return to fracking risks ‘breaking the countryside’ and ‘further hammering’ rural communities already hit hard by the cost of living crisis.

In the latest instalment of the Farming With Nature series, Jane Thynne explores how farmers can make space for nature and boost biodiversity on their land. 

The Welsh Government has unveiled an update to its heavily criticised water regulations, after admitting opposition to the plan had ‘introduced a level of uncertainty’.

The chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, Sir Robert Goodwill, has said he intends to look at the possibility of maintaining an element of direct support for ‘small’ farmers.

A Cumbrian farming couple has issued a desperate plea to the local authorities for help managing the River Derwent near Keswick after a flash flood led to the loss of 58 ewe lambs, writes Sarah Alderton