Conservation actions are effective at reducing global biodiversity loss, according to a major study.

International researchers spent 10 years looking at measures, from hatching Chinook salmon to eradication of invasive algae.

The authors said their findings offered a "ray of light" for those working to protect threatened animals and plants.

Months of relentless rain has moved food security right up the political agenda and put farmers in a stronger position with policymakers, according to former Climate Change Committee chairman and past Defra secretary Lord Deben.

Addressing the recent Future of Farming conference at Plumpton College in East Sussex, he said one of the few certainties in farming was that winters were going to get wetter and summers hotter – which both had implications for food production.

“The consequence is that there is going to be a greater pressure on food production that we have ever seen in our lifetimes,” he said. “The truth of the matter is that food security is absolutely central.”

Buyers in the UK are increasingly turning to vegetable imports following a tough year of weather for domestic growers. Jack Ward, chief executive of the British Growers Association (BGA), told Farmers Weekly the past few months of rain on top of last year’s difficult spring and wet summer had “set the tone” for supply.

Crops such as cauliflowers, cabbages and carrots have begun to run out sooner than they usually would, and the wait for new season crops to come in is expected to be longer because the wet weather is holding back planting.

Mr Ward said growers needed a “statement of intent” from the government to show it believed the fresh produce sector was important, noting that there was a need for more support with capital investment, research and development, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and a multi-year seasonal labour scheme.

Agri-tech is set to accelerate innovation and growth in the UK's agriculture and food industries, as over half of UK food industry businesses (51%) say adopting new technologies is a key business priority as they look ahead to the next five years, while one in four (25%) agriculture business leaders say it's a top priority. Nearly half of decision-makers in the combined agri-food industries (48%) say there are stages in their supply chain where innovation or investment are lacking.

The findings are from the new Future of Agri-Tech Report that surveyed 200 R&D and technology decision-makers in the agriculture and food industries to mark the launch of the new UK Agri-Tech Centre, the UK's largest dedicated agri-tech organisation. The UK Agri-Tech Centre commissioned the research to better comprehend agri-food businesses' priorities in order to inform its strategy to drive agri-innovation at unprecedented levels.

Traditional farming practices could be 'threatened' as large landowners seek to reclaim land in favour of economically beneficial environmental practices.

The National Sheep Association (NSA) has warned that farmers were being 'squeezed out' of short term lets and Farm Business Tenancies (FBT).

Making the claim a recent meeting of sheep farmers in the NSA Northern Region, the body said many landowners were taking back land and putting it into rewilding and other similar projects.

The development of controlled environment agriculture and vertical farming technologies needs to accelerate to help boost UK food security, researchers say.

Scientists at Aberystwyth University have started a new project to research vertical farming, the process of producing food by growing it in stacked layers within controlled indoor environments.

This method helps farmers to produce more on the same amount of land and reduce the environmental impact, and to avoid the future challenge presented by extreme weather events.

A London-based agri-tech company has been awarded £1.5m by the UK Space Agency to fund a project to develop an in-orbit space farm.

The agency, sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, has allocated grant funding to 11 projects across the UK, including the space farm.

Developed by Vertical Future, a vertical farming and technology manufacturer, the project will adapt its existing controlled-environment agriculture systems into a prototype for low-Earth orbit.

New modelling shows reduced yields of some crops if widely used herbicide is withdrawn, with alternative approaches to weed control offering mixed outcomes.

A ban on glyphosate could lead to an increase in weed abundance and a decrease in the yields of some crops, according to a new modelling study.

Although the environmental risks associated with this herbicide would be eased, alternative approaches to weed control had mixed outcomes for the environment, food production and profitability, although some show potential benefits.

Yield10 Bioscience - an agricultural biotechnology company - has announced that approval has been granted by the United States Department of Agriculture Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) for the growing and breeding of Yield10’s Camelina sativa varieties, developed using genetic engineering to produce omega-3 fatty acids.

Due to historical and continued overexploitation of wild fish populations, traditional fish oil sources are creating gaps in supply and driving the growing demand for new sources of omega-3. By utilising Camelina as a land-based production platform, Yield10 aims to provide a new, reliable supply for omega-3 fatty acids, which can supply the aquaculture industry, and other consumers, whilst reducing their environmental impact.

“This regulatory milestone represents a critical step for enabling the ramp-up of Camelina planting to commercial scale in the US for producing omega-3 oil for key markets including aquafeed and human nutrition,” said Dr Kristi Snell, chief science officer of Yield10 Bioscience, in a press release announcing the progress.

Bayer, the chemical conglomerate, has announced its endeavour to develop an alternative to the controversial herbicide glyphosate, as recently disclosed by CEO Bill Anderson to the German newspaper ‘Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung’. Here’s what we know about this new product expected to hit the market by 2028.

Bayer is currently in the process of developing an alternative to glyphosate, the active ingredient in weed killers like Roundup. According to Anderson, the new substance is undergoing plant testing, with plans for market availability by 2028. Anderson stated, “Our aim is to bring the new product to market in 2028”, considering it as a groundbreaking innovation in chemical crop protection after thirty years.

Defra has responded to industry concerns about food security by announcing a cap on the amount of some environmental incentives farmers in England can claim under the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

New applicants to the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme will only be able to put 25% of their land into six SFI actions that take land out of food production.

A poor turnout for a debate on food security in the House of Commons shows MPs are refusing to take this important issue seriously, say farm leaders. Just a handful of MPs attended the Westminster debate on Thursday (21 March), which was opened by Philip Dunne, Conservative MP for Ludlow and chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC).

Mr Dunne put forward the motion for MPs to discuss a number of reports by the EAC, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee and the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, tackling the issue of national food security.