Sheep farming 'poster boy' off to Australian conference

Farmer

He has been described a ''poster boy'' for the future of New Zealand's sheep industry. But young Maniototo shepherd Dave Ingham (24) is quick to stress that agriculture is ''not just going out shifting break fences and drenching lambs''.

French fries could be more expensive as drought threatens German potato crops

potato crops

French fries in Germany are about to get more expensive — or a lot smaller. And there will be no relief from other countries.

No immediate federal help for drought-hit German farmers, agriculture minister says

Sheep

For weeks, farmers in Germany have been waiting for rain and are calling for a billion euros in government aid. But German Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner says she has to wait for data before giving out any money.

MOFA urges farmers to adopt climate-smart agriculture

Farmland

Farmers in the country have been urged to adopt climate-smart agriculture to ensure food security.

We can feed 9.7 billion by growing crops for humans, not animals

Feed maize to people instead of animals, study says

The current crop production is sufficient to feed the predicted 9.7 billion world population in 2050, but only if we make radical changes to our dietary choices, new research shows.

Humanity has already exhausted Earth’s natural resources for 2018

Humanity has already used up nature’s budget for the entire year

August 1 marks Earth Overshoot Day this year – the day humanity has used up the resources nature can regenerate in a year, according to data from Global Footprint Network, an international research organisation.

Trump says China will buy ‘massive amounts’ of US farm products after putting trade war on hold

US President Donald Trump 

US President Donald Trump has said that China will buy “massive amounts” of American agricultural products as the two economic giants put an impending trade war “on hold”.

World’s soils have lost 133 billion tonnes of carbon since the dawn of agriculture, study estimates

Concern has been growing over a 'soil fertility crisis', a problem that can be masked by the use of artificial fertilisers 

The degradation of the Earth’s soil by humans has been an environmental catastrophe on a similar scale to the deforestation of much of the planet, a new study suggests.

Global vegetable supply could plummet by more than a third due to climate change, says study

Crop yields will be affected by rising temperatures and water shortages

The world's supply of vegetables could fall by more than a third by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to combat climate change, according to a new study.

Government seems so ‘hamstrung by Brexit immigration dogma’ it risks failing £1.2bn soft fruit industry, growers claim

The UK's soft fruit industry is currently facing a labour shortage which growers fear may be exacerbated by government reluctance to let in foreign fruit pickers

The Government seems so “hamstrung by dogma” around Brexit and immigration that it is failing to act decisively to ensure Britain’s fruit farmers will get the supply of foreign workers they need to survive, it has been suggested.