Doubts over net zero for farming, arable profits and independent agronomy, NFU leadership challenge, farmland market, and Women in Agriculture

This episode of the Farmers Weekly Podcast is brought to you in association with Barclays. I think it's about going back to basics. It's looking at, you know, what land is productive, what land is profitable anyway. I think it's about management basically keeping that attention to detail, which is critical, I think, from planning right through to growing the crop and then through to marketing at the end of the season. Just how do we make arable farming profitable again? Why independent agronomy is becoming more popular? Awards for women in agriculture and what will land prices do in 2026? Welcome to the Farmers Weekly Podcast. I'm Johan Tasker. I'm Louise Impey and I'm Shoobroom. All that and more coming up, but first our top story, the NFU has made two of its top climate change advisors redundant. Calling into question, the union's commitment to net zero targets. Senior NFU advisor Jonathan Skirlock has worked with the union on climate change mitigation and net zero since 2007. And Kate Bannister has been leading the NFU's climate change policy working on net zero for the union since 2020. Both their LinkedIn profiles now show they are open to work. It's raised questions because of the NFU's ambitious goal for farming to reach net zero by 2040, 10 years ahead of the government's own target. The NFU's 2040 goal was introduced seven years ago by the unions then President Minette Batters in 2019. This week, Baroness Batters told me she was surprised at the redundancies. Well, I was really surprised when I read it and I mean the comments in Farmers Weekly obviously about my proposal of beating the government target all those sort of years ago, Michael Gove, you know, was an absolute focus on ensuring that farmers weren't taxed in this area, that we maintain increased production, that, you know, we've said all along, we have to have the right financial investment, we have to have the incentives. But most of all, we have to have the policy. And, you know, I think the NFU has done a fantastic job with expert advice working with scientists, with academics, working with farmer panels, farmers all across the country to see how we do this. So we don't put the burden of cost on to farmers. And my whole focus was saying we can beat the government target by 10 years was to open doors that were locked to farming. And it did, it threw open all the doors, and we've been able to talk about farming being the solution, which it absolutely is in climate change. So I was just very surprised, yeah. And this is the NFU blaming a lack of government ambition on net zero for effectively, for these redundancies. Well, there's been a lack of ambition across, I would say, the civil service across all political parties, you know, the legislation is there. That is the reality of this. This is legislated, and it's in primary legislation. And we're the only developed nation in the world that has this. So the legislation is there. So we are on that road. So yes, I would say all parties have been behind the curve. I think civil servants are behind the curve as well. But ultimately, we have to get through this. And, you know, we have to have a policy and a framework. I'm really concerned about the carbon border adjustment mechanism. You know, this has got to be about production and consumption. There's a real danger that our consumption of emissions starts to skyrocket. So I'd agree with that, but the problem has got away. The problem is there. You know, climate change is real, and we need to deal with it. They haven't said it explicitly, but this is almost as though the NFU has ditched the 2040 target. I can't comment on that. I don't know what their plans are, but the main point for me at the NFU was avoiding farmers being taxed, making sure we maintain our livestock numbers. And I'm making sure that we can increase production. We've got to increase production, but decrease our impact. That is the focus. And that's better for the business. I mean, the whole net zero policy should have been about, do we want a better business? Do we want to cut costs? That is how you get to carbon neutral food production. That's Baroness Batters on the NFU's decision to lay off two of its key climate change advisors throwing the union's commitment on net zero into doubt. Now in a statement, the NFU said it remains focused on supporting farming businesses to become resilient in the face of climate change and working with the wider food supply chain on the adaptations needed to mitigate the impacts of climate change. While the NFU holds long-standing ambitions for farming to be net zero and published its net zero ambition in 2019 to show policymakers what is needed at a strategic level to decarbonise agriculture, this ambition is not being met by policy development at a national or global level, said the union. Meanwhile, farming and food production remains challenging sectors to decarbonise. The NFU will continue to progress work on climate policy for farming businesses and support domestic food production. That's a statement from the NFU. The NFU blaming these redundancies on a lack of ambition by policymakers, Baroness Batters not going so far as suggesting the union has ditched its own ambition for farming to reach net zero, but certainly voicing her surprise you. I don't know, I mean, look, she makes some really good points in that audio, doesn't she? And I remember it pulled back all the memories of them when she stood up at Oxford, however many years ago, six, seven, eight years ago, when Michael Gove was Minister of Deaf Research, sorry, and you know, the key thing actually resonates, it was the avoiding being taxed. And I remember at the time saying, oh, there's going to be all these climate levies and actually we need to get ahead of the curve and beat them there. And she was absolutely right with that. And it was a really ambitious target and some people would say, oh, yeah, it's just a political target, chuck it out there. It sort of keeps the dogs distracted with the bone over there whilst we carry on and sort our stuff out. And it's almost like we've now got to the stage where the dogs are still distracted over there too a bit, but they're starting to look back over the other way. And now we've just pulled the bones out the way and they'll get a run back on and they might have a girders. I mean, the bottom line is this hasn't gone away. The scope three commitments of the supply chain and everything about the climate act, et cetera, it's not gone. It's still there. I get why they may have decided to jettison the staff members that were dealing with this because they could say, well, actually the individual commodity teams could deal with it. Get that. But it's just not a good look because if you look at the rest of the supply chain and if you look at the rest of the industry, everyone is still busting a gut trying to fathom this one out. And it's probably not acceptable to turn around and say, yeah, it's too difficult. We'll just pass over it because actually a lot of it is doable. It just needs a bit of brain part and a bit of intelligence, a bit of a shove up the dairy air and kick it on. And as we've always said, with the whole net zero thing, however you frame it, it's 98% of what you do in terms of cutting your emissions as a farming business, regardless which sector you're in, it goes hand in hand with good financial stewardship of that business and it complements and works with the efficiency of that business. So yeah, is it a good look? No, is it probably a, do I understand why they did it? Yes, but actually perhaps there should have been something a bit more in the middle or just revamped it into something else but didn't get rid of someone in charge of net zero. Louise, NFU net zero advises Jonathan Skurlock and Kate Bannister, both highly respected within their sector, a big loss. Yeah, a big loss. I mean, this whole sort of net zero topic and climate change and I mean, you know, no one ever said it was going to be easy, did they? But of course, we have got some legal targets and as Minette pointed out in the audio, you know, farming can be part of the solution, well, especially productive farming. So, you know, it's, it has been quite hard work for some of these people doing it, measuring emissions is difficult and how you report them and verify them is as well. But as Hugh said, it's doable. Great progress has been made. I mean, I've had a, I've visited a couple of times and been really impressed and seen some of the work that the farm carbon tool kit is doing and you know, they had a five year project which was farm net zero, which was down in Cornwall. And you know, when they really sort of applied their minds to it, every farm system saw reductions in emissions. So that didn't really matter whether it was a horticulture business or a dairy business, arable beef and sheep, they all saw reductions and they have, you know, those figures are all there, you can, you can look all that up from farm net zero. And those reductions were largely driven by, you know, falls in input use and things like more diverse rotations and healthier soils. So as, as Hugh said, just a moment to go, it makes good business sense as well. Now, I'm not quite sure, you know, this announcement that NFU has made this week, I'm not quite sure where that leaves everybody, but you know, most farms have, well, certainly the farms that I've visited anyway, they have made real efforts to bring emissions down and they have made progress. So that's a good thing. I hope we don't take our foot off the pedal on this one, because as I said, there are, there are legal targets and I think the whole point about the industry being tax and everything, that will still be relevant if we don't continue to make progress. So we'll have to see who picks this up. I mean, the supply chain's doing some great stuff as well. So yeah, it is doable and I think people should just get on with it really. The Farmers Weekly podcast. And now a special word with this week's podcast partner Wayne Astrid from Barkley's. Wayne Barkley has supported farmers for over 280 years. How does that experience shape what you offer today? 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It's a hot topic and a question that was hotly debated by delegates at this week's Association of Independent Crop Consultants and your conference in Northamptonshire. I went along and caught up with the agronomist Dan Mathews of series rural and asked him how we make herable farming profitable again. Good question and I don't think there's a silver bullet to answer that either. It's looking at what land is productive, what land is profitable anyway, a bit like we were doing when we were thinking about environment schemes and what we put into that straightaway and keeping the productive land open to grow what is profitable from it. I think it's about management and the attention to detail which is critical I think from you know planning right through to growing the crop and then through to marketing at the end of the season. So there are some other tweaks and bits around marketing and finding some niche markets, different crops, diverse cropping is a big part of that. Maximising first week area if that's where the profitability lies but try not to dilute any profitability in the rest of the rotation so you know looking at good partner break crops that are going to be profitable as well in their own right and not just a break from from series. It's easy for me and you to talk about this but it's a lot harder to do. I mean not so long ago when the basic payment was around you could decide not to grow anything if the margins didn't stack up you'd still have an income that's not the case now of course. No it's not but I guess you have to just review that especially if you've got fixed costs in place that you can't switch on and switch off so if you are an overoccupier running your own kit and employing your own people then you are potentially committed to you know growing a crop just to cover those costs and to utilise the machinery and the resources that you've already invested in but if you are using a contractor then you know it's potential that you can switch it on and switch it off even if you don't crop it at all and and follow it and I think we are on that cliff edge where we actually need to look at that quite quite closely and because you know if you're not making money then you are potentially losing money by trying to grow crop on it so. And looking ahead to spring crop management and and indeed spring cropping choices what are you telling your clients at the minute? Well at least this year it's less of a big decision so we've got more winter zone crops at looking great condition that we're actually quite excited about going and you know managing those crops going forward there will be some different challenges this year about holding things back nutrition probably would be one of the biggest things to start with as well as the disease levels that are potentially going to be reflected by thicker more forward crops and I guess we are probably the first year where spring cropping and certainly spring cropping choices are less important because we've got such everything's got to plan today so you know we're not really on the back foot so that's a good thing and I guess there are some decisions where we've got the the legacy of SFI and we still got potentially some NUM3 to use and we're probably weighing that up against beans or other break crops that we would use in the spring. It's not all bad news then. No no of course not. No but it's it's a challenge and I think that the market at the moment one of the big things that I've seen in the last five years is previously we've always talked about global markets and being you know beholden to them but we've all seen in the UK that even domestically if we've had a bad year we tend to see a bit of an uplifting prices and protects imports and everything else and we've seen that erode in the last few years and that's the worrying thing that's we've seen you know that's a perfect storm we've seen poor harvest followed with poor prices and that that's going to be critical so so it's just keeping that in mind really and trying to say upbeat about you know what's coming in front of us which should be some some pretty positive stuff. Dan Mathews from Series 0 thank you very much. Thank you. Now also at the conference of course was AICC Chief Executive Sarah Colric who told me that value for money and return on investment is increasingly important for growers when arable margins are so tight. Yeah I think that that is absolutely true I mean it's obviously it's always been for us the go to for our independent agronomists you know offer advice they don't get involved in the product sales at all and as the industry is going through a transition and costs are an issue I think farmers look more to what how the bottom line is looking and independent agronomy can help them you look at their cost and be more cost-aware really. Today's been the industry day there are two other days to this conference as well which is for AICC members what sort of stuff do you discuss? So yeah the first two days are members only and they value that opportunity to be together and exchange ideas. The first morning is always traditionally looking at our trials results for not only last year but overlays for two or three years before and anything interesting that's come out to me it's a hugely valuable resource for members it's trials run by members for members and we get you know a lot of support from industry with that and yeah that's always very popular and then we tend to keep everything very technical you know independence you know the way they work is that they are given the information and they interpret that data as they see fit so you know they're very used to that so yeah it's wall-to-wall technical and we're a bit of fun in the evening and we had a bit of downtime and you know just chatting to each other in the bar is all part of that you know it can be quite a lonely job and you know they enjoy that opportunity and particularly for the youngsters to be able to talk to members that have been you know in the industry a bit longer you know they value that to be able to talk to them and you know ask questions perhaps they wouldn't ask if they're boss or colleagues and it works really well yeah the social elements are really really important there aren't many conferences out there that the three days long but yeah people are saying I mean they've really value that because of the solitary nature of the job quit walking they don't yes they're at WhatsApp groups and there's no there's no substitute for eye-to-eye contact or one-on-one exactly and actually some of these members are meet once a year here so you know they could be miles apart you know some riskotland some down in Hampshire but they meet here every year and you know that obviously there's different weather patterns and different issues but you know mainly they are facing the same challenges and it's good to talk and as I say you know the youngsters get a lot from that you know they feel they're not alone and we've got our academy you know which we do training through the whole year so that's good we've also started a new group that I've lead called the emerging leaders so we're looking at future proofing AICC you know who is going to be active in managing AICC in ten years time so part of the strategy is to get them involved and say what do you want from your professional body and it's it's great to see that they're so you know positive about the future enthusiastic and so we want to harness that and get them involved early Sarah Calrick from the AICC complete with a happy conference delegate whistling in the background at the Syluise a bright future for independent agronomy but right now tough times for the arable sector itself yeah they are they're horribly tough times and I know we have talked about this before and we've also said that we don't want to get stuck in a complete doom loop but I think Dan's expression it's a challenge that just about sums it up you know it is difficult at the moment he made some very good points about management and attention to detail and you know we can hope can't we that a lot of these arable businesses will get slightly higher yields this year providing we don't you know have another drought year and hopefully they will find places where they can cut some costs a bit so you know those are the sorts of things that people are going to have to be doing I was very interested to hear Dan mention the the topic of unfunded fellows and this is something that you know I have heard a couple of times before so you know if you're paying a lot of money for men and machines you don't really have the option I don't think to do an unfunded fellow but as Dan pointed out in that audio if you're using a contractor you do have the ability to switch it on and switch it off a bit more and you know some people will be wondering whether unfunded fellows is what they need to do so yeah some really interesting points as he said no silver bullet got to keep your head up and we got to keep plugging on I think and she when arable farmers sneeze against the rest of the supply chain catches a cold not just agronomists but the wider industry to grain marketing and crop production company frontier agriculture this week announcing a big drop in profits for the 12 months ending June 2025 down to 9.4 million pounds from 40 million pounds in 2024 a huge drop and that obviously doesn't include the challenging 2025 harvest now it's tough isn't it wherever you wherever you turn and whether will the rest of the industry catch a cold I'm not sure I mean it'll be brutally honest at the moment yo and if you're feeding livestock it's not a bad place to be because obviously at the expense of our poor arable colleagues feed is cheap not great for arable farmers not great for frontier and you can see that that sort of collapse in those profits I mean it's not surprising is it given how flat the arable market is yeah it's hard work and it's about it's like everything is you've got to drive keep driving efficiency I mean it's the only way round this or unless you're lucky enough to be able to sort of bottom down the hatches not have to service too much borrowing and you can keep tipping over ticking over but as Louise said you know non-funded follow it's a new phrase isn't it it's a sort of turn it towns and thing they did 300 years ago and the grain was worth a bit more money it's a new concept but it's no good if you've got machinery to pay for and if you've got rent to pay it's really tough really tough and like I said before this arable year this arable season is like no other in in in my career and I'm well money 52 so I'm not completely old Git but I'm getting there I can't remember any time I mean you've got to go back to the 80s haven't you when there was no direct support so pre-Iax 93 when when the old direct payments came in the area payments came in and there were crop specific at that time there was price support in the 80s and then cusseticide came in 88 and it's slightly distorted but it bailed a lot of businesses out that were utterly hemorrhaging cash but then when you look at the capital values that were required to farm in 1986-1987 you know to grow a ton of wheat then versus what you need now in terms of kit and inputs and labor it's chalk and blooming cheese so this is utterly uncharted territory for UK agriculture and you know ignore it your peril in terms of if you want critical mass if you want resilience if you want production there's got to be some form of rectifier in there just to keep everyone ticking over because at the moment they're all heading one way you mentioned machine re-hue UK tractor sales in December down to their lowest level since records began that's according to the agricultural engineers association Louise you went along to the Lama machinery show this week in Birmingham Britain's biggest annual farm machinery show what was the atmosphere like? Well the atmosphere was weirdly totally different I think to the reality out there because it was it was really really busy and it had really quite a a a busy feel to it but um personally I find it a difficult exhibition because I just find the layout so confusing and it's very very difficult to locate the people that you you want to speak to it it really does take some working out but I mean there must have been delighted with the numbers that poured through the doors I I doubt a huge amount of business was being done but you know I'm happy to be corrected on that if they're going to tell me if these exhibitors say oh well it was absolutely worth us being there and we've never had so much interest in all this um lovely shiny new kit then then I'll you know I'm mistaken but um I think people just went along for a day out but uh yeah very very difficult at the moment that that's a you know and I think he mentioned it last week didn't he some of the some of the discounts on this kit now are just unbelievable really so that shows the sort of um sort of year that they're all having I suppose but fair play though for those exhibitors going there because last year when we were there and we said you know things looked a bit ominous then with with with numbers where they were in terms of crop values uh and the way the support ship was turning and we said oh yeah this is amazing you know there's a real buzz here people have really invested these manufacturers these supply companies have really invested in this show and it's brilliant and look absolutely fair play to them and amazing that they've done it again but the the landscape is so much it was bad 12 months ago but it's so much different now in terms of you know where is the way out on this unharbled yeah and I mean this week we've seen you know the figures come out haven't we on the uh tractor registrations and I think they're at the lowest since records began new tractor registrations so they started yeah keeping those records back in the 1960s so um yeah the number of tractor sold last year was was yeah they've never seen it so low the downturn not just affecting growers and Sarah Colerick from the association of independent crop consultants making the point that good advice is even more important when times are hard yeah and she she has got a point hasn't she but I think you know we all know don't we that there are good and bad agronomists on on both side of the fence really um I was quite interested though to to hear some figures and and this was just before christmas and there was a little bit of analysis done on on what farmers had paid uh for fungicides for in 2025 so the last growing season and um they divided them up between independent agronomy and distribution agronomy or service agronomy if you like and it turned out that farmers were paying three pounds a ton less on fungicides with independent agronomy so the average cost of their programs was 86 pounds a hectare whereas with um service agronomy they were it was 112 pounds a hectare so yeah that that was quite a difference actually um and and and I think that point about the capital requirement and the working capital needed now just to produce crops is is absolutely huge obviously uh risk has gone up quite a bit as well um I know there are some farmers who feel that um the serious bloodletting if you like is still about a year away um somebody mentioned to me the other day that um you know a lot of them will sort of limp through this growing year if you like but um it's next January that they'll really um really start to unravel and feel the pain I mean obviously unless something changes in that time and we must we must hope that it does but yeah I mean he spot on it it it is uncharted we haven't been here before it doesn't feel very comfortable at all and um we um yeah we've got to just as I said we've got to keep our heads up we've got to hope that things change um that people find find a way to survive this period it will change I'm sure of that but um I'm just not quite sure when the farmers weekly podcast the farmers weekly podcast you're listening to the farmers weekly podcast welcome along wherever you're listening to us from whether you're out in the tractor in the dairy parlor or in the farmhouse kitchen or even in the farm office we'd love to hear from you you can email us podcast at fwi.co.uk and if you're in the UK itself you can also message us by texting the word farm followed by a message to double eight double four zero Louise you've been out and about quite a bit this week and not just to the Lama event no I have been out and about I started my week at the uh UK serial pathogen virulence of a briefing which was held at NIAB so the UKC PBS does a very good job actually at monitoring any changes in in the rust population so obviously they had a very busy year last year we did see as we've talked about before this major variety breakdown and one of the major resistance genes was overcome by a new strain of yellow rust so they had a lot of testing and sampling to do I have to take my hat off to them because they did get some information out very rapidly and they kept kept farmers updated throughout the season but Monday was the sort of wash up event if you like they have it every year where they look back at the year that's been and what they've learned from it and and basically um you know this major breakdown that we saw part of that was the selection pressure caused by farmers growing too few varieties so we have got some very dominant varieties in England and in Scotland actually so when you get a major gene like YR15 breaking down which is what happened most of those varieties of course had it in them it's um it's in a lot of the varieties of grown so we did see this huge selection pressure and we ended up now with them we've varieties that don't have the resistance to yellow rust that we thought they did so it was an interesting morning to to hear it all see how many samples they'd received that the thing that I was left wondering after the event was over was does the system need to change really in some way because you know farmers were really left unprotected it last year the plant breeders were there at this event and of course they've already done their work received the money for the for artists that they produced the researchers were there talking about the work that they do and what their new sources of resistance coming through and of course they'd already received their money if you like but it was the farmer who bought these varieties in good faith and then um they turned out to not be able to do what they thought they were going to do so do we need greater transparency in the system I think we probably do do we need better advice do we need more understanding of the genetic basis of some of this resistance because we can't really keep going like this whereby the farmer has to carry all the risk I think they need to look at perhaps introducing higher standards or something like that just to prevent a situation like 2025 happening again and looking forward to this season Louise well underway of course we're in a similarly risky situation aren't we we are unfortunately I think 50% about 50% of the crop that's in the ground is is vulnerable um the difference I suppose for this coming season is that we do actually now know that these varieties are susceptible to yellow rust whereas last year we thought they were resistant to it so we do know we've got to get out there we've got to look and we've got to act if we do see the disease there and of course you know varieties carry more than one resistance gene so some of them if you like will be less susceptible than others even though they have got that major gene in them as well worryingly a lot of the candidates have got that gene in them as well so yeah this is really where the recommended list system needs to needs to come in and they need to put some higher standards and just prevent those sorts of varieties getting on to the list in the future so Hugh while Louise has been out and about this week I guess you're gearing up for the NFU election hustings which are also taking place and a few president Tom Bradshaw facing a leadership challenge from NFU deputy president David X would yeah the NFU senior office holder election season kicks off and kicked off last week I suppose when there was the declarations all done by the ninth Tom Bradshaw stands as president again David X word is challenging him for him for that he's also putting himself forward for deputy president Rachel Hayloss stands for she's kind of vice president she's standing for deputy president and vice president Paul Tomkins dairy farmer from Yorkshire current chair of the NFU's dairy board that he's standing for deputy president and vice president Robyn Munt who's been on council she's southern regional board chair she's been on governance she's from the olive white she is standing for deputy president and vice president and Marc Jeffrey from Wiltshire that he's been the Wiltshire council rep for a bit he stood last time and he's put himself forward for vice president so those hustings start next week so yes we'll see what see what happens there if there's a much change or not time will tell you hand time will tell indeed these NFU leadership elections due to take place immediately after the unions and your conference in Birmingham next month that's mid February always a lot of focus on the top job when it comes to NFU elections Tom Bradshaw facing this leadership challenge from David Xward but David Xward Hugh also standing for re-election to his current role as NFU deputy president is his heart in this leadership challenge do you think you because it looks like he's hedging his bets by having a fallback position and standing also for re-election rather than simply going for the big job and asking NFU members to back me or sack me as your president I don't know but you do think if you were going to go for the top job you just put your name down for the top job and get on with it but far be it for I'm just a simple local branch chair so what would I know but yes you know time will tell in terms of in terms of what happens so they do their hustings over the next week or so across the it's obviously a simplified job now because it's just across four regions and then they do another hustings at the NFU conference the AGM bit will it's the sort of elections bit at the end of the conference on the second day in Birmingham at the end of February so yeah time will tell so there's plenty to play for between now and then as to who ends up with which job but the good thing is there's plenty of people there is some people challenging in the past we have had bigger fields I was going back probably going back 10 or 15 years and sometimes we had up to sort of 10 or 15 candidates for the for the role of a vice president I see I seem to remember the lovely Anthony Rue from Devon near Newton Aber is the loveliest man still farming down there and I remember Anthony Anthony give about two or three goes I think vice president we still have great huge lines of people coming through the door not so many I don't know why that is time will tell but no it'll be interesting to see how it how it hangs out and of course there's it's interesting isn't it because you could argue that there's not there shouldn't really be much difference between them in the maybe in terms of policy because the policy is pretty much you know if you're talking about SFI you're talking about farming rules for water we said last week that could be a policy split between the current area for you position on ht all taking the CLA position on ht in terms of carrying on and really demanding a full repeal of it etc etc the policy stuff generally doesn't come into it it's more about the personalities and why these people are good but perhaps as we talked about earlier you know perhaps there needs to be a real reflection as well in terms of what those office holders could do in terms of influencing the day-to-day running of the organization and how to get best value there and keep everyone happy and keep the the happy ship sailing along as it were so there's lots to lots to discuss and debate at all these various hustings I would urge all the members to get along and take part I think a lot of them are hybrid as well some of them as there will be some online ones most of the regional office ones are in person but I think there's definitely going to be an online offerings as well in terms of hustings so get involved and ask some awesome all quick questions it's always a fun thing now the nfu elections not the only contest going on at the moment an important reminder this week the deadline for entries to this year's women in agriculture awards is fast approaching this year marks the third year of the awards and entries close on Friday the 30th of January well joining us now is chair of judges Chloe Ryan from the women in agriculture network Chloe what these awards all about they're all about celebrating women in agriculture so we all know women have always played a vital role in agriculture but on occasion they've been perhaps under recognised under rewarded and this is all about celebrating the work and the achievements that that they do to help propel this fantastic industry forwards these awards really seem to have captured the imagination Chloe yeah and we had an inkling when we started this in 2024 that there'd be interest but we've been absolutely blown away by the level of enthusiasm and the amazing entries we've received the inspiring stories that have been told and it's just building year on year so yeah we're back for our third year this year and it's getting bigger and better each year and this isn't just about women running farms the awards are for women right across the whole farming sector before and after the farm gate as well yet absolutely so we have an award for agriculture advisor of the year we have an award for sustainability champion it's about women who are farmers obviously but also the industries that help support farms as well now some people might say that we shouldn't have special women in agriculture awards that in this day and age women should be on the same playing field as everyone else we don't for example have have men in agriculture awards what do you say to that argument Chloe women have always played a hugely important role in agriculture and we know that but we also know that often they've been under celebrated for the roles that they've taken on and they've done the background so what we really wanted to do is just bring those achievements to the forefront and while it's true that women have become a lot more prominent in food and farming and in public bodies such as the NFU and defra we really feel that the response we've had to these awards and the network that we've launched in the wake of the awards just proves that there's a demand for places where women can celebrate each other in their achievements and then can carry on networking with other women afterwards so it's really good that you've brought that up your hand because we've recently launched the Women in Agriculture Network which is a year-round community built on the back of the awards and it's an online space at the moment where we're hosting like webinars masterclasses ask me anything sessions with prominent women in agriculture so it's really just a place like the awards where women can celebrate and support everything that they do within the world of agriculture. Chloe thank you very much for joining us here on the Farmers Weekly podcast that's Chloe Ryan from the Women in Agriculture Network and if you'd like to enter the women in agriculture awards simply go to nationalwomeninagriculture.co.uk you'll find all the information you need right there and get your entries in by the 30th of January and for more details about the women in agriculture network simply go to your app store and download the stay post app and you'll find everything you need again right there Louise you went along to the women in agriculture awards last year. I did yes I have to say I didn't go along as a as a nominee I wasn't up for an award but I did go along as a guest and we had a really good evening good table unfortunately the person whose table I was on she didn't actually win her category but she was very well deserved to be nominated and I'll look forward to seeing who's nominated this year. Yeah I'm looking forward to two and good luck with your entries 30th of January his your closing date and we'll have a full report on the winners as and when they're announced in May for now they're you anyone is this week on the commodity markets thank you very much your hand finished a dead weight this week almost stands on there's a point four of a penny in it 647 dead for the live weight 371.6 that has dropped five P many processors this week trying to yes just claw prices back in terms of what they seem to be offering people the sheep job that seems to be steady away at 720.2 back about a penny on the week the live weight three three five point eight that drops back about seven pence on the week the pick price is back point two of a penny two one nine three point two and on to the joy that is the arable markets now what have we got have we've got any his or any solace here not really a feed wheat 163 80 that has gained wait for this parable farmers if you're spot selling this week you will have gained 40 p a ton there you go milling week 177 pound that stands on year ago it was 210 30 feed barley's dropped back after it had a bit of a rally last week or two it went from sort of mid one 40s got up to 153.5 but this week I'm afraid drops back to 150 pounds 20 oil seed rate 403 60 feed peas 209 that stands on dead feed beads 205.6 or 205 60 that's gained two pounds on the week diesel price oh no it's the number of the devil again 66.66 pence recurring or whatever that's gone up about a penny or so on the week it was 65.2 last week and obviously with all this we're going on all prices spiked a bit because of all the stuff going on in Iran and the Middle East etc but hopefully it won't spike on too much the farmers weekly podcast the farmers weekly podcast and finally ongoing uncertainty in UK agriculture and indeed the wider economy has taken its toll on the farmland market with fewer sales and buyers and sellers trying to work out which way prices are going so what are the prospects for the farmland market in 2026 his Sam Holt who runs the farms and his states team at land agents strut and parker so this supply has been down and it's down about 10% and how we analyse the market in terms of supply it's probably quite useful to put it into context is we analyse all land transactions over 100 acres in England so generally in any one year there's about a hundred thousand acres that trade in any one year in England which is about the size of the art of white so we've seen about 82,000 acres launched up to September and then we're just analysing stats at the moment to the end of 2025. What sort of impact has inheritance tax had on the market? It has certainly brought forward I think some people who were thinking of perhaps what's happening with the next generation of their farm it has brought forward a few retirement sales for sort of smaller family farms where the next perhaps the next generation aren't farming and their thinking will let's sell now enjoy a enjoyment they have got enormous pensions and let's pass a bit of money on to the next generation now so there's been a little bit of that but now not a not a flood to the market whatsoever I suppose it hasn't helped the whole market sentiment but contributing to that not only being the the IHT changes which haven't come into effect until April 26th the what hasn't helped the market is commodity prices and so it's influenced the sentiment of the market I wouldn't say it's had a direct impact yet and why is that well we saw a huge amount of confidence come into the market following commodities going through the roof after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and that put a real impetus into the land market and average values went for arable land went up quite considerably across England with the commodity prices creeping back that has only added to the sort of the I wouldn't say a negative sentiment but a sort of a more cautious approach to the market in some areas that being said this is just a kind of a generalisation of what's going on across England the some areas where land is absolutely flying out the door and what sort of areas are so what we're seeing at the moment is grade one land is incredibly popular as soon as it hits the market it sells exceptionally well and that's generally driven by some well funded and successful farming businesses in those areas there's also some institutional money still looking to acquire that land because it's I wouldn't say it's cheap but it looks good value in terms of what revenue can be generated because there's some farming businesses in the locality who are prepared to pay some quite strong rents because they can grow some really exciting crops there and what sort of crops are they they sort of high value veg crops yeah exactly high value veg crops potatoes so and daps and calories so yeah lots of kind of high value crops where a farmer can afford to or can justify paying a big rent and the institutions like that and looking forward to 2026 so if you get your crystal ball out what are you seeing I think I don't think it's going to be a huge amount of growth over the next 12 months but there are some areas which sell as I said incredibly well and people buy land for lots of different reasons so I think average values will will stay about where they are they're at about £10,400 an acre for arable land at the moment pastures it's a little bit lower than that about 10 15% lower depending depending on the year so looking forward there will be I think average values will stay broadly static but what is absolutely crucial to remember is that land has seldom been a short term investment you're not flipping it like do it buying a redundant house doing it up and selling it for a profit is a it's a 10 15 20 year investment and there is plenty of buyers out there who are prepared to sit sit on it for that length of time Sam Holt from Land Agents Strutton Parker so Louise Hugh a mixed picture on land prices location always important we know that but the farmland market not in too bad a place given the uncertainty around the industry yeah location is obviously key land grade as well although some people would just speak land grade but obviously grade one land is flying off the shelf it always will do and always does the values I think of what surprised your contributor and surprised me was when he said that actually he was surprised at the the amount of land that was coming forward in the last year was was less than you might have thought given all that's going on and given I remember in the summer when I went down to the west country for some holiday time down to sunny Devon and coming back up the 303 it was just a sea of for sale signs in fields obviously with all the tax stuff that was looming at the time and everything else that's going on people were thinking about rearranging the furniture as it were so yeah it's a it's a funny picture but look the values are there and as he says in the audio it's a long-term investment isn't it land so it's not you know we know that and and so I suppose that it quietly rumbles on regardless of everything else that's happening around it but will that 10,400 average price per acre you know in a year's time as we reflected earlier with the directional traveler what's happening in the world of arable at the moment across the board will that number be as high who knows Louise that average farmland price of course masking the difference between arable and grazing land prices something some halt highlighted yeah well you know arable land as I think you said didn't he 10 to 15% premium over over grazing land it is a long-term investment and of course that famous quote isn't it by land they don't make it anymore um yeah I'm surprised by the constriction of supply and uh again I thought there were a record number of farms and farmland coming to the market but but maybe that's you know just with all the other debate that's going on about what's happening and farming it it's just seemed worse than it really is because he's saying there's a constriction of supply so so there you go um you know these these farms well they will continue to come to the market people would seem to be carrying on buying them so so that's good as he says would it still look like that in a year's time well we'll have to wait and see yes that by land they don't make you tell you more quote widely attributed to Mark Twain although no definitive evidence that he actually said it like many popular quotes I guess still it reflects what a precious and finite resource land is that's enough of that though and indeed that is it for this episode of the Farmers Weekly podcast as always we do hope you've enjoyed what you've heard and found it useful if you have please do subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts and if you've really enjoyed what you've heard as ever please do leave us a five-star review we'll be back next week with all the latest news views and analysis of all the big stories affecting UK agriculture but for now until next week I'm Johan Tasker I'm Louise Impe and I'm shoe-broome thank you for listening this episode of the Farmers Weekly podcast was brought to you in association with Barclays