agriculture

Italy’s plans to provide €4.7 billion (£4.2bn) of public support for advanced biomethane and biofuels have been approved by the European Commission. The scheme, which will run until 2022, supports the production and distribution of second and third-generation biofuels for use in transport. Under the project, producers of advanced biomethane and biofuels receive a premium […]

Business Secretary Greg Clark has announced £90 million of funding for developing AI, robotics and earth observation technologies in the UK’s agriculture and food sector. He said smarter technologies will make the sector more efficient, more productive and more sustainable. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) also plans to encourage collaboration between businesses, […]

The Environment Agency is working to reduce pollution from agriculture across Wessex. It is working with more than 10 partners, including the National Farmer’s Union and the Country Land and Business Association, to reduce the impact of farms in the region upon rivers, lakes, ditches and groundwater. The group aims to avoid the negative side […]

New rules to tackle diffuse water pollution from agriculture in England have been announced. Defra expects the new legislation, which requires good farming practice, to come into effect on 2nd April 2018. The rules include conducting soil tests at least every five years, planning use of manures and fertilisers and assessing whether there is a […]

New funding of £1.7 million will allow groups of farmers and organisations to bid for cash to spend on large scale environmental projects in their area. The Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund aims to encourage landowners to co-operate with their neighbours and achieve environmental benefits they couldn’t reach on their own. Now in its third round, the […]

More than half of British farmers place little or no importance on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when making decisions. That’s according to new statistics released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which track a series of environmental indicators in the agriculture industry year-on-year. The information charts the industry’s progress towards its […]

The food and agriculture industry urgently needs to improve its energy efficiency. That’s according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which suggests energy use in the agro-food sector is continuing to rise. The group says as farms and factories in many countries are highly dependent on fossil fuels, […]

Brexit offers the UK a once-in-a-generation chance to reform environmental agriculture policies. That’s according to a new report from Policy Exchange, which suggests the existing Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has reduced productivity and efficiency in the sector. The report says once the UK leaves the EU, all remaining public support should be spent preserving and enhancing the natural […]

Ammonia pollution exceeded EU limits in 2015. That’s according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), which shows although the level of ammonia has dropped since 1990, it needs to catch up with the rapidly falling volumes of other airborne pollutants. Around 94% of ammonia emissions in Europe stem from agriculture, which has been […]

A new methodology has been developed to track the uptake of green technology in the agriculture and food (agrifood) sector. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) say food production and supply chains consume nearly a third of […]