LivestockFallen sheep collections quadruple in Devon as bluetongue spreads across England
National Fallen Stock Company data show Devon up 310% and Somerset 228% in August, as BTV-3 is confirmed on 2,124 premises in Great Britain this season.
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AgribusinessOnly 125 SFI26 agreements include moorland actions, raising doubts about England's uplands
A third of England's moorland, more than 260,000 ha, has no agri-environment agreement; campaigners blame stocking rules, excluded common land and a clashing deadline.
LivestockBluetongue reaches Aberdeenshire as vets urge earlier vaccination
Seafield Veterinary Group has confirmed bluetongue in Aberdeenshire, one of 38 cases in Scotland this season, and urges farmers not to wait until spring to vaccinate sheep, cattle and other ruminants.
LivestockWelsh sheep farmers offered up to £1,000 a ram in a genetics pilot
The Floctest: EBVs in Action pilot, funded by the Welsh Government and run by Hybu Cig Cymru, will DNA-test lambs to compare performance-recorded rams with farmers' own stock rams in hill and maternal flocks.
CropsUK harvest: wheat and spring barley yields fall while oilseed rape shines
AHDB's final harvest update puts UK winter wheat at 6.9 t/ha, about 11 percent below the five-year average, spring barley 17 percent below and oats 14 percent below, while oilseed rape averaged 4.0 t/ha, 19 percent above.
LivestockAHDB launches new British pork campaign pushing mince as a budget swap
AHDB's October burst of its "This is British Pork" campaign adds a TV advert, an influencer-led Healthy Savings challenge and £6 family recipe videos, after a February push reached more than 40 million consumers.
LivestockRed Tractor consults on slimmer beef, lamb and dairy standards
Red Tractor's six-week consultation, running to 3 November, proposes cutting Beef & Lamb requirements by about a third and Dairy by a quarter, with farm-specific health planning and a new dairy code of conduct.
AgribusinessDefra secretary promises to fix SFI's first-come, first-served system
Dame Angela Eagle acknowledged farmers' anger after the Sustainable Farming Incentive's second window ran out in under six hours, and pledged to work with the NFU on reform before it reopens.
LivestockNFU rejects Wildlife Trusts claim that mega-dairies push nature to breaking point
A Wildlife Trusts report links 71 percent of serious farm pollution incidents in England to dairy and calls for permits for very large housed units; the NFU, AHDB and Dairy UK say management, not size, decides environmental performance.
CropsRothamsted finds 95% of UK samples of an oilseed rape canker fungus resist SDHI fungicides
The first confirmed report worldwide of SDHI resistance in Plenodomus biglobosus, one of the two fungi behind phoma stem canker, raises concern about disease control in oilseed rape.
CropsDurham scientists propose attacking plant pathogens through shared protein weak spots
A review in The Plant Journal suggests crops could be protected against whole families of pathogen proteins at once, using AI protein design to block features the pathogens share.
AgrotechDrone-applied foliar nitrogen lifts maize yield in Leicestershire trial
Hutchinsons trials near Broughton Astley found a drone-applied mix of N-Durance and Peloton added about 10 t/ha of fresh-weight maize for a cost of £115/ha, reaching tall crops that ground sprayers cannot.
LivestockAberdeen-Angus society launches a Dairy Beef Index for dairy farmers
The Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society's new Dairy Beef Index ranks bulls by expected profit per calf, combining calving ease, gestation length, growth and carcass traits for dairy herds breeding beef calves.