A beef breeding index that combines improvements in performance efficiency with a reduction in greenhouse gases is not only good for the environment and farm profit.

With enteric methane accounting for 45% of all farm emissions, farmers using the new EnviroBeef index (to be launched this month) will be able to demonstrate that they are working to lower their farm’s impact on climate change.

“Genetics have the potential to reduce carbon footprint through reducing methane emissions via improving herd efficiency,” says says AHDB geneticist Dr Harriet Bunnin.

A UK pilot will utilise AI to help European potato growers cut carbon, boost yields, and restore soil health — all while meeting the demand for regenerative farming.

The project - known as FIRST Potato — Field Intelligence for Regenerative Agriculture and Sustainability in Potato Farming — aims to speed up the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices.

This technology provides predictive analytics and daily, plot-specific recommendations tailored to each farm’s unique soil and microclimate conditions.

Farming robot Thorvald is shifting into top gear, as creator Saga Robotics secures £8.4 million to drive large-scale rollouts in UK fields and US vineyards. The agri-tech innovator has raised the amount in equity funding to accelerate the commercial rollout of its autonomous farming platform, Thorvald.

The robot has moved from a prototype to a fully commercially deployed autonomous solution, already servicing thousands of acres in 2025. Capable of everything from UV-C disease control to high-precision crop data collection, it provides automated services that help growers increase yields, cut labour costs, and reduce chemical inputs.

The Nobel Prize winning scientist behind mRNA vaccine technology has attacked the US health secretary’s plan to effectively cancel the use and development of the science in America.

Speaking exclusively to The Telegraph, Dr Katalin Karikó, said the decision by Robert F Kennedy Jr to cancel $500 million worth of mRNA research and development contracts is “devastating” and reflects a “lack of respect for science.”

Dr Karikó, who received the Nobel Prize in 2023 for her groundbreaking work on messenger RNA, the technology behind the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines, added the decision could have far-reaching consequences.

Climate change is fuelling extreme weather and displacement in key food-producing countries, posing a rising risk to the UK’s food supply, according to new analysis.

The report reveals that £3 billion worth of UK food imports – including staples like rice, tea and mangoes – come from the top 20 countries with the highest levels of climate-related displacement. All are rated as unprepared for climate change.

Tim Lamyman is doing what he does best – setting new world records. This time it is a record-yielding oilseed rape crop of 7.52t/ha helped by late drilling and an early foliar feed.

The new world record is nearly three times the UK national 2024 average yield and was produced from a 2m-plus tall crop with an unbroken thick canopy high on the Lincolnshire Wolds.

Prof Lord Trees, a veterinarian and vice-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture, has renewed his call for the UK government to bring forward rules under the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 to allow the use of gene editing in farmed animals.

This, he said, could help mitigate the risk of bird flu spiralling out of control and causing another zoonotic pandemic in the human population. Leading virologists at the Global Virus Network (GVN) previously called on governments worldwide to address the rising threat of H5N1 avian influenza, and to prepare for potential human-to-human transmission.

UK research using gene-editing techniques to develop bird flu resistant chickens is ahead of the curve internationally, Prof Trees said, highlighting that it may offer a route to break the cycle of H5N1 transmission.

Suntory Beverage & Food Great Britain and Ireland (SBF GB&I) has made an investment of £920,000 over the next five years to enhance the resilience of blackcurrant varieties through a collaboration with the James Hutton Institute.

This initiative aims to address the challenges posed by climate change and improve the sustainability of blackcurrant production for its flagship Ribena brand.

The investment comes in response to recent extreme weather conditions in the UK, including the driest and sunniest spring on record, which has led to early harvests and highlighted the urgent need for crop varieties that can withstand environmental stress.

Import dependency could increase the impact of climate change on food inflation, with extreme weather driving up UK prices and increasing poverty partly due to its reliance on food from abroad.

A new report from think tank the Autonomy Institute ‘On the Horizon: Climate Induced Inflation and the Price of Food' suggested ‘climateflation' could drive food prices up by 34% by 2050.

Import dependency makes the UK highly vulnerable to climate shocks abroad, especially from Europe and Brazil. The report suggested to mitigate the risks of climateflation, it was imperative that the UK diversifies its food sources and boosts long-term domestic agricultural production.

Researchers at Cranfield University have launched a ground-breaking project to dramatically speed up genetic engineering in crops, focusing initially on the tomato plant.

The initiative aims to replace the slow, labour-intensive process of tissue culture with innovative techniques that directly modify seeds and pollen—potentially slashing the time it takes to develop improved, resilient crops.

British agriculture’s environmental performance is frequently exposed to damaging criticism and misinformation.

But the AHDB Environmental Baselining project has set out to change that.

It aims to provide the industry with accurate information to counter its critics and to enable farmers to take a data-led approach towards a more sustainable future.

The UK’s fresh food supply is under growing threat, with a new report warning that nearly half of all imported fruit and vegetables could face severe climate-related risks by mid-century.

The report, released by sustainability consultancy Aethr Associates in collaboration with the Fresh Produce Consortium, highlights the UK’s heavy reliance on international food imports — a vulnerability in the face of extreme weather.

In 2024, the UK imported 47% of its vegetables and 84% of its fruit, with much of it coming from climate-exposed regions.