CropsUK crop science body Niab will lead a three-year BBSRC-funded project, the first under the second phase of the International Wheat Yield Partnership, to put novel traits into elite European winter wheat and test them with eight commercial breeders.
LivestockEngland's breeding pig herd rose 2.8% to 322,000 head in the year to June 2026, according to Defra's latest census, though producers leaving the sector could yet reverse the trend.
LivestockHong Kong's Centre for Food Safety has suspended poultry meat and egg imports from four US counties and Scotland's Isle of Lewis after highly pathogenic H5N1 and H5N5 outbreaks.
LivestockAgscent has launched in the UK with a system that pairs methane sensors with in-paddock weighing, so farmers can see which cattle turn feed into weight most efficiently as drought squeezes grass and forage.
EnvironmentFreedom of Information replies gathered by the CLA show over half of responding fire services in England and Wales have no wildfire protective clothing, a third have no drones, and on-call engines were unavailable 32% of the year.
AgribusinessThe National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs wants the share of under-35s in agriculture tripled to 15% by 2036, and asks for council farms, fair grant access and key-worker status for farm staff.
LivestockThe Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) regulations came into full force as processors cut supply bases, leaving many independent producers on the spot market at 130-150p/kg while the published SPP sat near 180p.
AgrotechA Harper Adams engineering project found that machine-learning models fed with acoustic, water, environmental and management data spotted early signs of disease in nursery pigs better than any single sensor; it won the 2026 Nick Bird Award.
CropsJohn Innes Centre scientists found that tortoise beetles build the capsules that keep their essential gut bacterium alive from a Yellow protein, a finding that may one day help target leaf beetle crop pests through their bacterial partners.
AgrotechBryant Research showed over 1,000 people two meat-free products; 96% knew Quorn's sausages had no meat and 94% said the same of This's vegan chicken, as the EU weighs adding more terms to its ban.
CropsDeep Science Ventures says declines of roughly 20-50% in several nutrients have been recorded in cereals and vegetables, and models a UK scenario in which GLP-1 drugs and falling nutrient density push five million adults below key thresholds.
LivestockVet Martha Twist advises using milk recording in the first 30 days of lactation to spot dry-period infections, rotating dry-cow grazing even in drought, and keeping winter hygiene and teat preparation as cows calve.
OpinionIn a Farmers Weekly column, EmpowerAg's Amy Hughes argues that the industry funds subsidies, crisis mental-health support and arbitration after damage is done, and invests far too little in the conversations and skills that would prevent it.
