Editorial
Social media and trust in business: Comment
Two episodes this month have shown how easy it is to lose business trust in an age of instant communications. Proposals to add a voluntary environmental module to the Red Tractor farm assurance scheme caused a rapid farmer response,...
Green module row threatens credibility of Red Tractor: Comment
The current row over a proposed environment module within the Red Tractor assurance scheme risks grower confidence in the wider scheme. Red Tractor emerged in the wake of the BSE crisis in the late 1990s, when...
Comment: Defra – who is in control?
The latest delay to the launch of the Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI) in England, greeted with dismay by industry leaders, is just the latest example of the low priority the government appears to place on the agricultural...
Comment: Will EU politicians back gene-editing and glyphosate?
The European Commission’s proposals to permit the use of gene-editing technologies in the EU are to be welcomed. But in a parallel with the re-registration of glyphosate, will EU politicians back the science? The move towards...
Growers prefer regional crop variety demonstrations
A survey of arable farmers by plant breeder Limagrain UK found that most farmers prefer to base variety decisions on local, rather than national, crop demonstrations. The company used an online questionnaire to find out how growers decide which varieties to grow next...
Comment: Business pragmatism vs Brexit ideology
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced down Brexit idealogues last month in getting the Windsor Framework to ameliorate post-Brexit Northern Ireland border trade problems through Parliament. But the dwindling number of Brexiteer Spartans...