Avian flu has reached new corners of the globe and become endemic for the first time in some wild birds that transmit the virus to poultry, according to veterinarians and disease experts, who warn it is now a year-round problem.

Reuters spoke to more than 20 experts and farmers on four continents who said the prevalence of the virus in the wild signals that record outbreaks will not abate soon on poultry farms, ramping up threats to the world's food supply. They warned that farmers must view the disease as a serious risk all year, instead of focusing prevention efforts during spring migration seasons for wild birds.

Outbreaks of the virus have widened in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, undefeated by summer heat or winter cold snaps, since a strain arrived in the United States in early 2022 that was genetically similar to cases in Europe and Asia.

The results of Europe’s first ever field trial of a gene edited variety of wheat have shown a major reduction of the potential carcinogen acrylamide when the flour is baked.

The new wheat strain was gene-edited to lower the formation of asparagine in the wheat grains. When cooked, this amino acid is converted to acrylamide – a potential carcinogen that food processors are keen to control.

Levels of asparagine (acrylamide’s precursor) in the GE wheat were up to 50% lower than the control variety Cadenza.

The UK's new cabinet minister for science says that she will have a "relentless focus" on using research to make people's lives better.

Michelle Donelan told BBC News that a department focusing solely on science, technology and innovation would be "transformative".

This will be the first time that there has been a cabinet minister focused on science since 1994.

A new database of 19 insect genomes encompassing some of the most damaging pests worldwide has been made available in a bid to better target crop protection.

It includes some of the most common pest threats faced by UK farmers including wireworm, cabbage stem flea beetle and pollen beetle, as well as other globally important species.

It is hoped that the new database will help speed up the development of novel pest control approaches that can overcome resistance and create more nature friendly solutions to crop protection. The four-year Pest Genome Initiative was developed by Rothamsted Research along with the agriscience companies Syngenta and Bayer.

Scottish farmers are being blocked from growing healthier, cheaper food by SNP Ministers, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Conservative MP Andrew Bowie has warned. The UK Government’s Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill will allow food producers to use precision breeding techniques with the aims of growing hardier crops, lowering carbon emissions, and benefiting public health.

Gene editing (GE) makes natural precision breeding of species faster and cheaper, and is unrelated to genetic modification which introduces DNA. GE has been backed by Scottish farming chiefs and world-leading research institutes such as James Hutton and Roslin.

However, SNP, Green and Labour MSPs refused consent for the provisions of the bill to be enacted in Scotland.

Research from Lancaster University – published last week by trade association, Solar Energy UK – has offered evidence that solar farms can enhance biodiversity on farmland.

Solar farms surveyed by ecologists showed an increase in the abundance of wildlife, especially pollinators like bees and butterflies that maintain biodiversity and ecosystem stability.

Pollinator habitats, such as wildflower meadows, can be established within solar farms and could increase the abundance of bumblebees by up to four times, said the report.

The largest ever outbreak of bird flu is spilling over into mammals, including otters and foxes in the UK. Figures released to the BBC show the virus has led to the death of about 208 million birds around the world and at least 200 recorded cases in mammals.

Public health bosses warn the mutation in mammals could see a jump to humans but the risk to the public is very low. There will now be more targeted surveillance and testing of animals and humans exposed to the virus in the UK.

The UK government risks "overpromising" finite land with its multiple ambitions on farming, nature and renewable energy, according to a report from scientific academy The Royal Society. It says an area the size of Northern Ireland could be needed to accommodate current policy targets by 2030.

Farming and forestry groups have welcomed the report and say it shows the need for a UK land-use framework. The report, from the UK National Academy of Sciences, concludes that current policies on land use are "disjointed" and there needs to be more innovative approaches to get the most out of our land.

"The UK does not have enough land for any of it to be non-productive," said the report's steering group chairman, Sir Charles Godfray, who is director of Oxford University's Oxford Martin School. "But when we say productive, we don't just mean producing food but producing public good, as well."

Defra has announced a five-year delivery plan to improve the the environment, which includes incentivising most farmers to adopt nature-friendly practices on at least 10 to 15% of their land by 2030.

The government has today published its Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, which includes actions to "halt and then reverse the decline in nature".

For the farming industry, the plan requires 65 to 80% of farmers to adopt nature friendly farming practices on at least 10-15% of their land by 2030. They will also be supported to create or restore 30,000 miles of hedgerows a year by 2037 and 45,000 miles of hedgerows a year by 2050.

Calls by MPs to ban the routine use antibiotics in livestock over concerns about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) have been branded as “silly” by farming minister Mark Spencer.

In a House of Commons debate on the use of antibiotics in agriculture, Labour MP Virendra Sharma said the UK risked“ sleepwalking into another health emergency” due to the amounts of antibiotics routinely given to farm animals.

Productivity on UK dairy farms has fallen over the last decade, while other major dairy producing countries have seen stable or increasing productivity.

Data from the International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN) shows that productivity on the typical UK dairy farm has declined.

Productivity is the amount of output produced, compared with the amount of input required – it is a measure of efficiency.

The UK government has allowed the emergency use of banned bee-toxic neonicotinoid pesticides in England for the third year in a row just days after the EU ruled out the practice. The UK government announced on Monday (23 January) that it will permit the use of the banned pesticide thiamethoxam – a type of neonicotinoid – on sugar beet in England in 2023 due to the risk to the crop from plant pest virus called ‘yellows’.

The decision comes just four days after the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) declared that providing emergency derogations for expressly prohibited neonicotinoid-treated seeds is not in line with EU law.

The virus represents a serious threat to the European beet sugar sector. For example, in 2020, French beet growers reported a decline of 30% in yield on the national level caused by the virus yellows and lack of access to neonicotinoids.