Tom Allen-Stevens
@tomallenstevens
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Founder and creator of BOFIN, writer, journalist and arable farmer in Oxon, a passion for science, innovation and co-creation in farming. I switch hats at will!
Oxon, England
Joined January 2010
Brilliant article by @willhumphries_ with @JoeWStanley & @herdyshepherd1 . Rebanks said some farmers believe “intentional harm” is being done to farming by the government but added: “Maybe they are just staggeringly shit at their jobs.”. Too true.
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So I’ve read the Hansard account of the debate and have a few comments 🧵. Firstly, the 5bn over 2yrs @RachelReevesMP has allocated is not “the biggest budget for food production and nature recovery in UK history”. In real terms it is the smallest.
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Hi @mayaellisuk I’m just a thick farmer, so I struggle to understand this:. “Labour MP Maya Ellis suggested bringing more farmers into paying inheritance tax would increase their profits overall”. Please explain.
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Im trying to invent the ultimate piece of kit for arable farmers. It takes in unwanted biomass & turns it into a biologically active nutrient pellet that's delivered evenly or precisely to its target. Must be low maintenance, preferably low fuel, low compaction. Oh, hang on.
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The man who suddenly realises he got acres and hectares mixed up.
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If you’re a @UKLabour MP, with the briefing document about farmers you’ve been sent & sense an opportunity to make a name for yourself on national TV, just don’t do it. You do not understand the damage, the hurt, the sense of outrage. You NEED to stop talking & start listening.
"My family come from a country where there are lots of farmers, quite hard to find a poor farmer," Labour MP Dame Siobhain McDonagh tells #PoliticsLive as tractors take to the streets of Westminster.
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I can think of a million agricultural uses for one of these.
This ultra-small generator is highly portable and works even with shallow, slow moving water. Already tested with powering street lights, it promises to allow people in the world’s remote regions to generate their own electricity
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@DanNeidle @40 @samaritans Tenth, IF ONE MORE MP OR MINISTER MENTIONS THE F@@CKING 22BN BLACK HOLE ONE MORE TIME.I.WILL.SCREAM!!!😱.
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Great article @PhilipCaseFW according to lawyers I’ve spoken to, @hmtreasury faces possible class action litigation if it presses ahead w/o reforming policy Defra has conducted no impact assessment of family farm tax - Farmers Weekly
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Oh! Oh oh oh! This is absolutely priceless!👇.Rachel from accounts got her figs wrong. @CBItweets says hit on family firms of IHT⬆️ will➡️net loss to @hmtreasury of >£1bn pa. Is there 1 expert in the UK who doesn’t think she’s created a clusterf@£kup?
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OMG the arrogance is stupefying. If @timleunig believes we should not feed ourselves, why on earth should we impose that burden on other nations that are less able and less efficient than us at doing so? #SackTimLeunig @Minette_Batters @NFUtweets
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"Your Royal Highness, we'd like you to meet xxx xxx of Tesco, who have been very supportive of this event.".HRH: "Tesco? What on earth are you doing here? I thought farmers hated you.".What a legend.#RIPPrincePhillip
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Here's a shout-out for all agronomists out there wondering if they shd stay at home. The job you do monitoring our fields is *essential* to ensuring farmers can produce the food this nation needs. Keep on crop-walking you are the #CropDoctors 🌾👨⚕️.
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Im sorry but 'food giants' dont have the right to benefit from regen ag practice. They simply trade food. It is & always shd be up to the farmer how they convey their regen ag journey to the consumer. Not up to @PepsiCo to impose a standard on the farmer
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There should be a derogation to allow grazing of AB15 in these exceptional dry conditions @NFUtweets @DefraGovUK its a stunning resource & the red clover has remarkable resilience - one of the few areas still green on my farm. But will all go waste when its topped off
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OMG so this is the grand scheme. @DefraGovUK isn’t supporting farmers at all. The plan is nationalise farmland then rent it back to those who used to own it. Now the whole thing makes perfect sense.
Labour Farm Tax Architect Advocates for State Expropriation of Farmland
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“British produce is the star of the show at the Xmas dinner table”.So while everyone is screaming at me that I’m making a mistake, I’m defending a policy that will ensure it won’t be British next year. How can anyone be so brazenly two-faced?.
Thank you to all those in the food sector. You are the unsung heroes over Christmas, working tirelessly to put delicious food onto our plates.
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Powerful words from an African farmer: "If the Europeans want to reject GMOs, that’s their choice. They’re already well fed. They have the luxury of making decisions based on ignorance"
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This is a complete pile of unsubstantiated twaddle from @ChanterTom I'm surprised @FarmersWeekly even published it. I've never known a time in my life when @NFUtweets has been more engaged. It's up to every farmer to sing same tune rather than criticise
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Every veg farmer (& flower farmer @matthewnaylor) should seriously look into getting one of these @FarmDroidUK imported by @OPICOag just £60k & it does all your seeding & weeding - no labour, no fuel, just does its own thing
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Excellent 🧵 from @herdyshepherd1 contrary to govt spin, farm ‘support’ has never been so low. Nor has it ever been over such a short term - just 2 yrs. less than half the length of a crop rotation. I can’t plan for that.
The government is spinning that they are offering a record level of support for British farming . This is CATEGORICALLY UNTRUE. I’m not sure they understand this point… . Let me explain….
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Compare & contrast the attributes of these 2 leaders. I'll start:.Decisive; devisive .Ambitious; abyssmal.Unifying; unhinged.Representative; reprehensible .@Minette_Batters @trussliz
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No farm business can base their planning on just two years. If you’re borrowing money, no bank will accept a cashflow on such a short term for a business that has no idea of its income post 2026.
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Thank you for this👇great article @linsey_smith @BBCNews Armstrong family facing £1.4m tax bill ."I've worked all these years to get it where it is. The long hours and nights we've spent between the wife and I calving cows. It takes the achievement away."
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Farmer overheard @CropTecShow: “I now trust @Tesco more than I trust the govt. it’s not a great contract I have with them, but it shows a clearer commitment to support my business than @DefraGovUK who do nothing but break the assurances they gave us”.
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Sixth, the whole point of the policy was to stop non-farmers putting their wealth into land & pushing up values. So why don’t they accept advice from @DanNeidle & raise to £20m threshold, claw back if land is sold & tax @40%? Wd raise the same amount.
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"Their vital role in feeding the nation"? #TheyJustStackTheShelves & do a pretty poor job of it. You listened to a room of vultures deciding how best to pick the last few morsels off the bones of an industry they're killing, while shitting over the environment we try to care for.
I was delighted to meet supermarket leaders and their trade body @_thebrc this week. We discussed their vital role in feeding the nation. We are committed to working with them to #BackBritishFarmers and help shoppers be assured of high-quality food at a fair price. 🚜
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@franceshinde Ok, so what was @AngelaRayner promising to do in this @BBCNews interview? The point is, there are MPs who made pledges to win votes that they’ve reversed now they’re in office. They should be held to account so it doesn’t happen again.
This aged well. On the day Labour have turned their backs on our WASPI women this video has resurfaced. They cannot lie straight in bed.
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@DanNeidle @40 Seventh, if you read all the comments made it is absolutely clear which MPs listened to & understood their farming constituents & which MPs just heard what they wanted to hear. The measure of misunderstanding & misrepresentation by Labour MPs is staggering.
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Storming letter from @amcarmichaelMP & team @CommonsEFRA .It’s clear that @RachelReevesMP stands alone as the only person in the UK who doesn’t feel it’s right to listen to farmers & consider a change. Her stubborn arrogance & pride will bring a great cost to the nation.
Our Chair @amcarmichaelMP has today written to the Prime Minister about inheritance tax reforms. He raises the disputed question of how many farms will be affected by the changes and backs calls for a broad consultation on the impacts of changes. 1/3.
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Secondly, given this govt has committed to just two years of funding, which is the shortest commitment to ag funding any govt has ever offered. The previous shortest was over the length of a parliament (5yrs). Before that, CAP secured a longer term.
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This article on James Dyson by @WillHeaven is one of the best that's ever been written every farmer should read it.
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@DanNeidle @40 Ninth, while mental health was raised, no one raised the issue that there are vulnerable people in our rural communities who are considering taking their own lives as a direct result of this tax. We must talk about this @samaritans.
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Fifth, & most important, they have FROZEN the only measures designed to deliver growth, namely:.1) Farming Innovation Programme.2) Farm Equipment Technology Fund.3) Capital grant funding.4) ADOPT, which is £40m for farmer-led projects to put R&D directly onto farms.
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Sorry World, have made decision this field along with 50% of my land will not grow food this yr by our #foodarmy which puts UK about 720,000 loaves of bread down we'll have to import. Have done the sums, not worth the risk n don't have confidence UK govt has our backs
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This 👇 is an absolutely brilliant analysis of the current state of affairs in UK agriculture by @EdConwaySky 👏👏.Note the grey “other” bar in @DefraGovUK spending. That includes the entire budget spent on growth, incl R&D. Focus on that spend & we CAN avert Farmageddon.
🚜FARMAGEDDON🌾.The story of what's REALLY going on in farming. A story far more complex than the conventional wisdom. This isn't just (or even mainly) about inheritance tax. It's about a cascade of challenges & crises that may ultimately threaten food security. 📽️5 min primer👇
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Compounding that is the fact that govt has put entire spending on hold, including Countryside Stewardship. How on earth can you say you’re supporting farmers & then wreck our cash flows by delaying payments?.
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Here's the full story on the first gene-edited crops that will be grown on commercial farms in Europe, including details of the three precision-bred organisms from @Rothamsted @Halford1Nigel & @JohnInnesCentre @CristobalUauy
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@DanNeidle @40 Eighth, most of the contributions by non-Conservatives were targeted at criticising record of previous govt. its true the Tories didn’t do great, but that’s totally irrelevant to the motion - massive amt of parliamentary time completely wasted.
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Excellent article in @guardian "It's ok to call for more research on whether grazing can take carbon from air and return it to the soil. What's not ok is attacking without at least also citing the peer-reviewed science that backs up Savory’s assertions."
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This is pure genius - scientists target a gene found to be instrumental in causing the onset of sprouting and use CRISPRCas9 to edit it and make it rainproof
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Ive had some help with the editorial I'm putting together. I think she's added something to the @cpm_magazine Innovation Insight article. #NextNextGeneration
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Fourthly, support they have pledged is reduced energy bills, 50% of govt procured food will be British, better NHS will mean rural workforce will be “strong & well” A) I don’t trust they’ll deliver any of those B) if they did it’ll add nothing to profits & def wont cover IHT bill.
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Thirdly, much is said about the £300m underspend of previous govt. Well good luck getting farmers to trust this govt enough to commit to £5bn of ELMs contracts when last govt struggled to get a fraction of that amt committed. No BPS means underspend v likely.
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Oops! Fortunately everyone's ok but apologies to 8000 people in Faringdon and Stanford (Oxon) who were cut off
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Just caught someone wandering off the farm with a wild cherry sapling he'd uprooted from one of our hedgerows. I explained he shouldn't or shd at least ask and he was most upset, claiming he was helping the hedgerow. I don't think that's his call to make is it?.
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Can anyone explain to me why it was wrong to welcome into this country people who wanted to work here? I simply dont understand what brought us to this mess.
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This is a truly awful post @DrAmirKhanGP that does nothing but spread misunderstanding untruths & mistrust. Farmers r trying as hard as we can to move away from current dependence on pesticides but it's a transition & it takes time. Please find a different way to help our journey.
British Sugar has asked the UK Government for to use the bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticide on sugar beet for the 4th year in a row . Please help us stop its use and save bees and other pollinators by adding your name below - pls share x. @WildlifeTrusts
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So many farmers disappointed at the @Conservatives act of betrayal on Weds. Here's my response to my MP @david4wantage
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Crushed. Deflated. Not because of the level of blackgrass in this field, from one of the most detailed surveys of the weed ever done using the most remarkable technology. The level of farmer-led ambition that sits behind this map is astonishing. And it's under threat.
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“How do you feel about witnesses breaking down at my @CommonsEFRA?”.“That's why I had a meeting with @ProagriLtd, so I could hear from him the points he wanted to make.”.“With a view to making changes?”.“No. We’ve set out the policy.”.This PM is biggest waste of space there is.
Only just got round to watching this video…. So Keir Starmer sold a 7 acre meadow for £400,000, but thinks the majority of farms are worth less than £1 million? 🤔.
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Well done @wheat_daddy tell 'em like it is 👍 im not planning to grow any wheat for harvest '23. Triticale instead saves at least 1/3 on fert smothers your blackgrass and hardly needs a fungicide .BBC News - Farmers cut food production as costs soar.
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I voted remain but came round to idea of leave. Now I don't care what happens if only that houseful of cretinous MPs could actually decide to do something with our future and take this nation out of decaying paralysis.
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Well done @wheat_daddy 👏 .BBC News - First British-grown baked beans get canned in Lincolnshire.
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Anyone thinking of putting in to @Ruralpay for Countryside Stewardship or ELMS I'd urge you to leave it. I have lost so much time and money to CS & realise I now have 5 very dark yrs ahead of me locked into a scheme run by an organisation that hasn't learned and refuses to.
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That's very good of @Minette_Batters to apologise, but really @NFUtweets isn't to blame, & if anyone can lead us out of this debacle, she can. The apology needs to come from @the_brc. Not once have they shown contrition & that speaks volumes.
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Doing a bit of a sort out of old copies of @cpm_magazine after 10 years of being its editor and having had the privilege to visit and interview some of the most fascinating people in our industry. Thank you #WhatAJourney
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I vote we throw @the_brc off the @RedTractorFood board. F*** knows what benefit it brings having them there in the 1st place.
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Ill say it again: unless he has his cheque book open Andrew Opie can f*** right off. This is OUR env performance & OUR data. All @the_brc has ever done is rape& betray farming. You've exposed your intention to do even greater damage. It's time to retract the statement & apologise.
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Dear @RachelReevesMP there is one sure way I can avoid saddling my family with a large tax bill. I could kill myself before 1 April 2026. If I was elderly, infirm, already suffering mental stress or had financial worries, I wd seriously consider this. 1/2.
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"Farmers use the NHS as much as anyone else," says @SteveReedMP .A) no we don't.B) we actually save the NHS money through the health benefits of providing public access to land. A service which, with loss of BPS, the public no longer pays for.
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To all the farmers who came forward and helped @MelJenkins12 and me put this story together, thank you. @Ruralpay shd be held to account for the grief it's caused. My swansong article as editor of @cpm_magazine
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This is why @the_brc needs to be kept out of decisions on @RTfarmers GFC. Retailers are clearly making bad purchasing decisions & have always done so. You cannot allow them in when deciding any standard on env or animal welfare. They dont look after the birds. Farmers do.
Bonkers. We're importing more & more eggs from the 2nd & 3rd heaviest users of antibiotics in the EU - using 6x more than the UK as well as outdated, low-welfare systems we can no longer use here. The Government HAS to sort this mess out! (table: EFSA).
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Excellent story on ground-breaking work by @TheSainsburyLab trials into GM potatoes by @MattMcGrathBBC Such a shame UK farmers will be unlikely to benefit. Genetically modified potatoes 'resist late blight'
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Actually this is excellent thank you @BarryGardiner this is the sort of scrutiny retailers should be under, but i suspect @SteveBarclay & @Mark_Spencer dont have the balls.
Big Food Bosses expected us to feel sorry for them and moaned about the increase cost of their supply chain. But they couldn’t explain why their profits had soared when families were struggling with the cost of living crisis.
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@Churchfarmkav "Technically they're my wildflowers, but if you'd like to enter into a fixed-term FBT to ensure continued access to the land I'm sure we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement".
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Good article @FWAbiKay 👏.So much to take in here: "compliance with GFC wd cost farms £3480-£12,360/yr". "to help several smkts meet their “WWF basket” commitments".Err. No. Not until we get a commitment that they will pay. #TheyJustStackTheShelves.
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What Clive Black said to Michael Gove @oxfordfarming "British business is sick and tired of what is happening at the House of Commons at the moment, the British people are simmering with frustration and bordering on anger at a goldfish bowl of lunatics"
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@JohnOberg If you truly want to change things you shd name and shame where this was filmed UK consumers can avoid meat from such places simply by buying UK reared pork where stalls are banned thank you for highlighting that farming standards of some imports are unacceptable.
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While the non-plastic wrapper is great, @FarmersWeekly need to sort out why the mag is always stuck to it. Is it because it's a gripping read?
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FFS @Google what are you doing encouraging this lantern festival? The irony that you have a cow launching the lantern - do you know how many cows are injured or killed every year by these things? How irresponsible! @NFUtweets @HertsFarmer
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At last. This is a well fought victory by scientists working with farmers and entire food chain to ensure govt saw reason. Now we can put good science in the hands of farmers. Thx especially to @ferrierhelen @JohnathanNapie1 @jonathandgjones @CristobalUauy.
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@johnredwood How on earth do u expect us to do that if we go from 60% tariff to 0 on imports, 0 to 60% tariff on exports and subsidy phased out? I've several tonnes of wheat seed I'm about to plant. I'm seriously considering sending it back. This is biggest betrayal of farming since corn laws.
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Dear Consumer.Im sorry you feel the care I put into growing your food isnt enough to pay me more than the cost of producing it. But thanks for paying for the flowers. They look great - come and see.w3w///survey.settle.resources
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@ChrisGPackham Because you fail to engage with those you campaign against. You make no attempt to have a conversation with those who disagree with you. All we ask is that you visit a farm, take part in a reasoned two-way discussion and have an open mind about its outcome. Is that so hard?.
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Genuine question - did I overstep the mark when challenging @MPGeorgeEustice about treatment of farmers by @Ruralpay @Groundswellaguk last week in panel chaired by @RosieBoycott with @TonyJuniper @Minette_Batters @natalieben ?
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Oh FFS @kevin_rushby will you please stop writing such drivel and on 10 June go and meet a real farmer @OpenFarmSunday who is looking after the countryside AND growing safe wholesome food
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As #COP26 draws to a close, it's so important to recognise farming as a solution to climate change. These @cpm_magazine Climate Change Champions show how UK Farming can get 60% of the way to net zero with practices they implement today
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You not only helped those of us who are truly aiming to do environmental good define what we do, you helped us convey it. You fought tirelessly for us & we owe you so, so much. Thank you @LEAFchief
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Woa! Absolutely nothing since it was harvested best part of 3 mths ago, not even the cover crop we put in. Then boom! Blackgrass and heaps of it! Thank God we haven't drilled
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“A lot of farmers don’t always feel they are equipped to go out and speak to people or bring them onto their farms. We haven’t trained our farmers or scientists to speak to the public.” Wise words from @JulieBorlaug ahead of #OFC19.
"#Agriculture needs to overhaul the way it communicates with the public & who it looks to for innovation & solutions.” @JulieBorlaug , continuing the Borlaug legacy on tackling hunger, shares her thoughts . She will deliver #OFC19 Frank Parkinson Lecture
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What a brilliant article by @TimAdamsWrites on @Minette_Batters It is spot on. Thank you. The 'positive story' is farmer-led innovation & it's coming, thanks to your help, Minette. Must look up that restaurant too. Note the cheese board @Farmer_Tom_UK.
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Great journalism here by @PhilipCaseFW & @FWAbiKay it seems @NFUtweets is in a tight place & has had rug pulled from under its feet by @the_brc.Remember who pays for you @RedTractorFood you exist to assure on-farm standards, not impose standards on farmers
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Believe me when i say this is probably the most fascinating & potentially most transformative story I've ever had the privilege to write. Read it then let's work on getting this tech onto UK farms. Thank you to @corteva & to @Lucy_delaP for the opportunity
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So Andrew Opie @the_brc very magnanimously is "offering farmers the opportunity" to give their assurance on environmental standards through @RedTractorFood Greener Farm Commitment. Unless he has his cheque book open, he can f**k right off.
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Thanks for this @ProagriLtd I'd suggest that b4 any farmer commits to GFC, we want cast iron commitment from retailers, that they.- will back it financially.- will pay certified farmers a premium.- will source Green Farm food over imported non-certified
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Thank you to the retailers who are genuinely supporting farmers on the #FamilyFarmTax, like @SophieThroup1 @Morrisons. Be good to hear from more of you.
A message to British Farmers from Morrisons - we’re with you and support you 💪
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Yup, just love the way that Brazilian soya's produced 🤢.
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Many thx to @driverfarms1 for all yr help in getting the @redekopmfg SCU set up - the 1st one operating on a Claas combine in Europe. @CLAAS_Eastern & @OriaAgriculture have also been exceptional, ensuring harvest started today& weed seeds were destroyed. Great to see the farm too
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This is a brilliant article the best I've ever read in @guardian every farmer should read it @oxfordfarming @ORFC #oxfordfoodfarmingfestival
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Two fields of osr, side by side, same variety, seed rate soil type dressing drilled in mid Aug just one week apart into perfect conditions. I will never understand this crop
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I farm 0.003% of UK cropped area, yet produce enough food to keep 58,136 people from starving. That's why #glyphosateisvital how about you?.
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The very worst type of journalism by @stephenmoss_TV in @MailOnline shockingly poorly researched and perpetuating an ignorance of farming practices that really is the lowest of the low. How can they print such tripe? via.
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He travelled to 32 countries in the 1920s and collected 7000 different types of wheat. He may be responsible for preserving the traits that will deliver the next generation of wheats to farms worldwide. His name is A.E. Watkins. But does anyone know his first name?
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@Alpro Or you can just go for real milk, which when UK produced and grass-fed is SO much kinder to the planet and the community you live in.
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"Unless we provide a safe route, we are complicit with the people smugglers.".Brilliant speech eloquently made by Lord Kerr. When did we become so racist we allowed this to happen?.
Lord Kerr of Kinlochard brilliantly eviscerates government claims about refugees yesterday in #HouseofLords. The facts, stark and clear. Full transcript here ⬇️. #RefugeesWelcome #Migrants
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@DavidButler34 What I find remarkable is that when a species is in decline intensive agriculture is blamed. When it recovers it does so 'largely by itself'. Those habitats didn't recover by themselves it was the work of farmers probably unpaid.
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