Despite the Government's own website stating that it would give farmers six week notice before the closure of SFI, the Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner said it was not possible, as it would have led to a ‘further spike in applications'
Mr Dunn said: "Out of the £2.4 billion of budget allocated for the full panoply of schemes under the Agricultural Transition Plan, we need to know how much has been allocated to each element"
SFI24 now has more than 37,000 multi-year live agreements and has reached its ‘maximum limit' and can no longer accept new SFI applications from today
Alistair Carmichael asked for clarification when IPAFFS , Defra's IT system import of products, animals, food and feed system was successfully updated and operating as intended to reflect the policy change made on January 10 in response to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reports on new Government plans that could force farmers and landowners to sell their land at a lower value, how lab-grown meat, dairy and sugar could hit retail shelves within two years, and a 'landmark' court ruling for environmental campaign group River Action, which has thrown out the NFU's bid to have chicken manure classed as an agricultural by-product, rather than as industrial ‘waste'
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reports on Defra's import ban of cattle, sheep, pigs and deer from Hungry and Slovakia after confirmed a foot and mouth case on a farm with 1,400 cattle in Hungary. The Farming Minister said the Government will not hesitate to add additional countries to the list if the disease spreads. Elsewhere, she reports on how a Welsh farmer declined cancer treatment due to fear of Inheritance Tax changes
In today's Farming in Five, chief reporter Rachael Brown reflects on this week's main news stories including mounting pressure on the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, with 40 Labour MPs calling for changes to the current family farm tax proposals. She also looks ahead to next week, with a special 'Ask the Expert' feature coming up in Farmers Guardian online and in print, where a panel of experts will be answering our readers' questions around the fallout of Inheritance Tax and how to best prepare your family farm business
Speaking on a panel giving evidence to the Efra Committee, Ms Wilson said she had been made aware of information that products of animal origin from Germany had been auto-cleared via Todcof in the last couple of weeks
Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister Samuel Kurtz has accused the First Minister of Wales of a ‘dereliction of duty' in failing to raise the concerns of Welsh farmers regarding the family farm tax in a meeting with the Chancellor