Defra

Patrick Holden, chief executive of the Sustainable Food Trust, has called for a ‘coalition of stakeholders' to reward farmers for ‘positive climate, nature and social outcomes' as part of a ‘Sustainable Markets Initiative'

Exmoor farmer Robin Milton said ‘trust and confidence in SFI had been wrecked' and it would take ‘some exceptionally good assurance' before many farmers would trust integrating it into their business again

Can we reimagine the way crops are grown similar to a car assembly line? And in a smart farm, could robots soon be monitoring, planting, picking and packing the millions of lettuces eaten in the UK every year?

In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reports on yesterday's emergency roundtable meeting on SFI, with the Farming Minister criticised for providing lack of clarity on the what the future redesign of SFI will look like, and for showing a lack of empathy for those farmers who missed out on SFI. She also reports on farmers defending Scottish Minister Mairi Gougeon and criticising the level abuse she received online, as she announced she is stepping down from her post after more that half of her life in politics. And don't forget to sign up to our free webinar on Inheritance Tax ( March 27), where an expert panel will be unpicking any updates from the Spring Statement the day before

The Government has pulled the rug out from under farmers across England, according to Alastair Carmichael

An emergency roundtable on the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) has been held this afternoon (March 17) between Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner and farming organisations

TFA representative George Renner said despite indication from Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner at an ‘emergency' industry roundtable that a ‘stripped back version' of SFI would be available this summer, commitments from the Minister were still ‘very woolly'

Victoria Vyvyan, president of the CLA, said the country's planning system was in ‘crisis' and was ‘stagnating growth in the countryside'

The Tenant Farmers Association said the Government's decision to make area-based payments without considering evidenced claims has resulted in more severely affected farmers losing out on compensation 'with no means of recourse'

In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown understands an emergency roundtable meeting has been called for later today between farming organisations and Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner to discuss the fallout from Defra's decision last week to suspend new applications to SFI. She also reports on the appointment of Dr David Llewellyn as the independent monitoring and reporting commissioner for the recommendations from the UK Farm Assurance Review. And why a Cambridgeshire tenant farmer has been left 'fuming' at Defra after he was left with no compensation from the Farming Recovery Fund