News in brief

Since the pandemic began, many people have turned to the countryside for solace, recreation and exercise. With more people enjoying our outdoor spaces than ever before, this was deemed the perfect time for a refreshed Countryside Code, 70 years after the first booklet was published. However, the new Code has received some criticism from the rural community for not stipulating that dogs should be kept on leads around livestock, with many fearing it won’t curb the worrying rise in dog attacks on sheep. In a letter to The Guardian, Phil Stocker, Chief Executive of the National Sheep Association, wrote: “To simply suggest a dog should be ‘in sight’ when its behaviour around livestock could be unpredictable will not prevent livestock being attacked by dogs. It is also a missed opportunity to inform people that the majority of our countryside, including national parks, is farmed and privately owned, and that with rights goes responsibility.” 

Defra has created a £9 million fund to help farmers navigate BPS reductions. The Future Farming Resilience Fund will award grants to industry groups prepared to support up to 9,000 farmers through the transition from BPS to the new Environmental Land Management scheme. The successful grant applicants will be announced in July but applications need to be in by 7 May.

In a tentative sign that things may be starting to creep back to normal, organisers of the Great Yorkshire Show announced the event will go ahead later this year. For the first time in the event’s history, the Show will take place over four days from 13-16 July. Although the government still intends to lift restrictions on 21 June, it is expected that restrictions on large gatherings will be implemented, with a strict cap on visitor numbers anticipated.  

Organisers of the Show hope that adding a fourth day will enable more people to attend the event. Charles Mills, Honorary Show Director of the Great Yorkshire Show, said: “There will be some changes this year, but we want to deliver as much of a normal Show as restrictions allow, and it remains our position that the Show will only go ahead if it is safe to do so.” 

The Game Fair at Ragley Hall will also be going ahead on 24-25 July, with Carter Jonas sponsoring, and the two-day Cereals event takes place in Lincolnshire from 30 June.

Livestock exporters continue to be hit hard by Brexit-related chaos. The British Meat Processors Association believes the situation has moved beyond short term teething problems and that a potential permanent loss of trade of ‘between 20 and 50%’ is a real risk. Their Brexit Impact Report estimates that additional paperwork and certification at the borders has cost the industry as much as £120 million since the end of the transition period. Nick Allen, CEO of The British Meat Processors Association, said: “The export hurdles we face are now in plain sight and are not going away. We need Government to urgently re-engage with both the industry and the EU to work out detailed and lasting solutions.”

This year’s Farmland Bird Count by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust saw a huge increase in participation, with 2,500 counts submitted by farmers and landowners. This 65% increase from 2020 saw the land area covered more than double to more than a million hectares. GWCT’s Dr Roger Draycott said: “It clearly shows that farmers, land managers and gamekeepers care for the land they work and, given that they look after 71% of all the land in the UK, that is extremely good news for the future of our treasured bird species.”

Beloved children’s television programme Blue Peter invoked the wrath of farmers when it encouraged viewers to reduce meat consumption and switch to vegetarian alternatives in order to become a ‘climate hero’. Farmers were quick to accuse the BBC programme of overlooking the benefits of meat produced in grass-based livestock systems, with Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones calling on producers to give children the facts. “These children aren’t stupid. Give them an educated choice, not just one sweeping statement that doesn’t work,” he said.