Category Archives: policy

‘Health, Beauty and Permanence’ – Reflections on Michael Gove’s NFU Conference speech

I haven’t made it to the NFU Conference this year, but thanks to the wonders of youtube I was at least able to catch outgoing NFU President Meurig Raymond’s speech and Defra Secretary Michael Gove’s speech (thanks @NFUtube!). You can of course read the full speech from the Secretary of State here. Here is a briefContinueContinue reading “‘Health, Beauty and Permanence’ – Reflections on Michael Gove’s NFU Conference speech”

The long awaited 25 Year Environment Plan

I’ve been stuck indoors today, struck down by flu yesterday. There are a lot of things going around at the moment, and I was being optimistic and hoping that I wouldn’t catch anything this winter. Oh well! Hopefully I’m now over the worst of it but you never really can tell with these things. ItContinueContinue reading “The long awaited 25 Year Environment Plan”

‘Meet the Farmers’ – episode 13 – Oxford Real Farming Conference 2018

This special podcast episode was recorded at the Oxford Real Farming Conference last week. The podcast offers a flavour of this year’s conference and includes interviews and short clips from sessions including the Q&A with Defra Secretary Michael Gove, led by Zac Goldsmith MP. Thank you to everybody who spoke to me including: Kath Dalmeny, MilesContinueContinue reading “‘Meet the Farmers’ – episode 13 – Oxford Real Farming Conference 2018”

”No deal would be a very bad deal indeed”: some words on Brexit and Farmers.

Last week the inaugural Henry Plumb Lecture took place at the Royal Society in London, during which Ivan Rogers, the former UK permanent representative to the European Union, spoke to farm leaders and other farming sector representatives about the negotiations and life after Brexit. To say that his words didn’t foster much optimism is theContinueContinue reading “”No deal would be a very bad deal indeed”: some words on Brexit and Farmers.”

One fifth of English farms have disappeared in past 10 years

England’s green and pleasant land: a patchwork quilt of green and gold fields with quaint little villages nestled in between and ancient farms run by families who have worked the land for generations. Is this a true perspective of the English countryside? You and I know that this rose-tinted view is not the reality, norContinueContinue reading “One fifth of English farms have disappeared in past 10 years”