FARM ZONE
An advice, comment and opinion resource for the agricultural community
JOSEPH ARCH AND THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS’ UNION
Next in our pioneer series we look at the colourful character of Joseph Arch, the trade unionist from Warwickshire who championed the rights of agricultural workers Today, the collective interests of British agricultural workers are represented by Unite’s Food, Drink...
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BOOK REVIEW: R G STAPLEDON, THE LAND: NOW AND TOMORROW (Faber & Faber, 1935)
Having featured George Stapleton as one of our farming pioneers in July 2020, here we review his highly acclaimed book which resonates still today, nearly 90 years after its publication. Rural Britain is a neglected asset. Historic underinvestment has left it...
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A DIVERSIFICATION SUCCESSS FORGED BY UNDERSTANDING AND WORKING TOGETHER
A cautionary note sometimes given to farmers thinking of diversifying is to make sure they don’t take their eye off the core business and spread themselves too thinly. Such an error was never going to be the case for one Buckinghamshire farm business, who have not...
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LORD WOOLTON AND THE WARTIME MINISTRY OF FOOD
These days we call it ‘food security’: the idea of safeguarding an availability of food - enough food, and food of the right kind - for all. Thanks, variously, to Brexit, Covid-19 and climate change, it’s an idea that’s been much in the news. Last summer, a...
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FARMING WITHOUT CHEMICAL SEED TREATMENTS: AN AGRONOMIST’S VIEW
The list of pesticide and fungicide seed treatments now banned across the EU and in the UK has never been longer. But legislation welcomed by the environmentalist lobby has, for the custodians of the crops affected, brought with it some very demanding challenges. We...
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JOSEPH ELKINGTON, PIONEER OF LAND DRAINAGE
As part of our ‘pioneers in agriculture’ series we take a look at Joseph Elkington: the man who transformed the agricultural landscape through his work in land drainage. ‘Pioneer of Land Drainage’ is the phrase found on the modest monument to Joseph Elkington that...
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MARK WOODIN AND CHILTON HOME FARMS: A BRIGHT MAIZE CASE STUDY
Mark Woodin runs a large privately owned estate, Chilton Home Farms on the Buckinghamshire/ Oxfordshire border. He came from a farming family, and has seen long service at Chilton, where he started working 30 years’ ago, at the age of 24. The estate is a mixed dairy...
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TEN HOUSEHOLD FOOD SPENDING TRENDS FOR 2021
Food retailing trends are highly relevant to maize growers, over 90% of whom are milk producers, because changes in consumer buying habits of dairy products will influence the terms of the contracts on which they sell their milk. For this latest blog, Farm Zone,...
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FORAGE SPECIALIST RICHARD LEACH TELLS US ABOUT HIS WORK FOR BRIGHT MAIZE
With more than 35 years’ experience in the sector Richard Leach believes in conserving the traditional values of agricultural trade while embracing innovation that will help UK farmers gain the best returns by careful selection of variety and site location. Work in...
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FARMING SUBSIDIES: A NEW DIRECTION, BUT MAJOR HURDLES LAY AHEAD
As the UK exits from the EU, the Common Agricultural Policy will be replaced by a domestic farm policy which looks radically different. DEFRA’s Environmental Land Management scheme (ELM) shifts the focus from farm production to restoring wild habitats, creating new...
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