What's been happening recently?

This morning I spoke with Calum McDonald, aide to Angela Eagle, to raise two urgent issues now bearing down on British farming: the spiralling cost of essential inputs linked to instability around Iran, and the need for the British Farming Union to have a seat on the Farming and Food Partnership Board. The message was clear. Farming is being hit by a fresh wave of cost pressures at a time when confidence is already fragile, margins are tight, and many sectors are struggling t

Purpose and direction • The Sustainable Farming Incentive remains focused on paying farmers to deliver environmental outcomes alongside food production. • The 2026 offer is designed to be simpler, broader-access and more evenly funded across farms. • Developed through stakeholder workshops and consultation across 2025–26. • Intended to provide a stable framework for the rest of the Parliament , with refinements possible. Scale and structure • 71 actions in SFI26 (down from

The Environment Agency have recently launched a new video to shed more light on what happens during one of their farm inspections. Receiving an inspection letter from the Environment Agency can trigger worry and concern; this video is aimed at dispelling some of the myths around an inspection – it shows three farms going through the process of an inspection and includes feedback from the farmers and commentary from the Environment Agency’s officers on how they approach their

At a recent BFU meeting the Steering Committee discussed campaigning for full reinstatement of APR and BPR. Some larger farms are still at risk if their business value is over the £2.5million per person allowance, and this is particularly problematic if there's elderly family members. To mitigate this, the BFU have been liaising with opposition parties to see what mitigation can be put in place if those parties were to win the next general election. As well as reversing the t