A new £2.9m project seeks to breed low methane producing sheep to help the sector on its journey to net zero emissions.

‘Breed for CH4nge’, led by genetics company Innovis, is a three-year initiative which will measure methane emissions from a total of 13,500 sheep in 45 flocks.

The project will collect the data to genetically reduce methane emissions and improve the efficiency of the national sheep flock.

SNP and Green ministers are refusing to adopt new technologies to improve food security despite the European Union dropping its opposition to gene editing.

The process of editing involves selective breeding, a traditional method used in farming to find good traits in crops and animals. This is different from genetic modification, which introduces DNA from one species to another.

Scottish ministers previously suggested that any divergence could harm trade with the EU but, despite the change in position in Brussels, have refused to approve the technology in the face of opposition from the Scottish Greens.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) has approved Australian company Nuseed's Aquaterra omega-3 oil - an oil made from genetically modified (GM) rapeseed -- for use in fish feed. The oil can only be used for fish feed, and is assessed as safe for health and the environment. Both the oil and the feed must be labeled as genetically modified, said NFSA.

The oil is derived from canola plants that have been genetically modified to produce long-chain, omega-3 fatty acids that are otherwise usually extracted from marine organisms. Omega-3 oils are essential to the health and welfare of farmed salmon, so the limited supply of fish oil from marine fish sources constrains industry growth. Today, wild-caught fish are the main source of these nutrients.

One to two hectares of canola plants can produce as much DHA as 10,000 kilograms of wild fish, the company claims. And there is an opportunity to double the global supply of these nutrients on less than 5 percent of current canola production land.

Brussels plans to lift controls on some genetically modified crops to help farmers cope with climate change in a move likely to reignite a Europe-wide debate about the controversial techniques.

A draft EU regulation seen by the Financial Times proposes that many modified plants should be approved as conventional rather than go through the bloc’s existing GMO regime, which is laborious and expensive.

The proposal sets out different regulatory options but favours a light-touch regime for most new plant varieties — which would be “treated similarly to conventional plants and would not require authorisation, risk assessment, traceability and labelling as GMOs”. A transparency register would be established for these plants, according to the draft.

'Green’ farming policies may accelerate global biodiversity loss, two leading academics have warned.

Rewilding, organic farming and the ‘nature friendly farming’ measures included in some UK government conservation policies risk worsening the global biodiversity crisis by reducing how much food is produced in a region, driving up food imports and increasing environmental damage overseas.

In an article published today in the journal Nature, Professor Ian Bateman of the University of Exeter and Professor Andrew Balmford of the University of Cambridge urge policy-makers to consider a bolder approach known as ‘land sparing’, which they argue is cheaper, more effective, and avoids the displacement of food production and worsening the loss of wildlife habitats overseas.

Food security concerns stemming from the war in Ukraine are creating a more favorable environment for the adoption of genetically modified crops globally, according to the head of Bayer AG’s Crop Science unit.

The conflict, which has caused disruptions in grain supplies, was a “wake up call” for food-importing nations in Asia and Africa to seek more self-sufficiency, Bayer’s Rodrigo Santos said in a Tuesday interview in New York City.

Scottish farm leaders have called for the 'urgent approval' of the herbicide Asulox for use to control bracken this year due to the lack of alternatives.

NFU Scotland, Scottish Land & Estates and Bracken Control Group have urged the Scottish government to reauthorise Asulox (asulam) to control bracken.

An aggressive and invasive weed, there are reports that it is growing frantically throughout the hillsides of Scotland. Where bracken grows, the land is unproductive, and it is also a risk to livestock health due to the abundance of ticks.

Many genetically modified foods could in future be sold unlabelled on European supermarket shelves, according to an unpublished legislative proposal by the European Commission.

A draft commission regulation, not yet published but seen by dpa, would exempt certain genetically-modified plants from the EU’s strict ruled on genetic engineering. The proposal is expected to be officially presented in July.

The planned rule changes meant that processes such as CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing would not be subject to EU genetic engineering rules.

Farmers are being urged to displace imported soya with home-grown bean crops due to the environmental and agronomic benefits they bring.

The Nitrogen Efficient Plants for Climate Smart Arable Cropping Systems (NCS) project has a goal of instigating a reduction of 1.5Mt CO2e per annum. NCS is a consortium of UK companies, research institutes and farmer networks, led by the Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO).

They are working together to bring about the reduction, which is calculated as 54% of the maximum potential for UK agriculture. To do this, the four-year £5.9m research project will work to increase pulse cropping in arable rotations to 20% across the UK - currently 5% - and develop and test new feed rations. This will help livestock farmers to substitute up to 50% of imported soya meal used in feed with more climate-friendly home-grown pulses and legumes.

The UK pig sector has achieved a remarkable milestone after reducing total antibiotic use by 75% over an eight year period, new figures show.

Last year alone, there was a 20% decline in antibiotic usage for treating pigs on farms, according to data collected by AHDB using the electronic Medicine Book (eMB).

Antibiotic use in 2022 stood at 70mg/PCU, a significant improvement compared with 87mg/PCU in 2021.

A natural weather event known as El Niño has begun in the Pacific Ocean, likely adding heat to a planet already warming under climate change.

US scientists confirmed that El Niño had started. Experts say it will likely make 2024 the world's hottest year. They fear it will help push the world past a key 1.5C warming milestone.

It will also affect world weather, potentially bringing drought to Australia, more rain to the southern US, and weakening India's monsoon. The event will likely last until next spring, after which its impacts will recede.

The NFU has called for the wider adoption of GWP* - a global warming measurement metric - following studies on its accuracy when measuring the impact of methane.

The union said the government needed to make sure that greenhouse gas emissions were calculated "in as accurate a way as possible".

This would, in turn, help farmers to better understand and reduce methane emissions, the NFU explained.