Farm

Investigation finds number of dairy farms where cows cannot go outside has more than doubled since 2015There has been a huge rise in factory-style dairy farming of “battery cows” in the UK as farmers struggle with increasing costs and face selling milk at a loss.The number of intensive dairy farms that permanently confine some of their cattle indoors has more than doubled in the past 10 years, an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) has found. Data suggests there are now at least 180 dairy farms where cows have no access to the outdoors, up from about 70 in 2015. Continue reading...

Animal and Plant Health Agency forced to release reports showing scale and cause of deaths on some fish farmsMillions of fish deaths caused by accidental poisoning and suffocation on Scottish salmon farms have been revealed after the inspection agency was forced to share its reports.The UK government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) had refused to release inspection reports, claiming it would cause “significant detriment” to companies, including to their reputations. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Bodycam footage shared with the Guardian shows agents forced workers out of a van in what a judge has called ‘unlawful’ arrestNewly released body-camera footage shows US immigration officers stopping a van of farm workers in Oregon, smashing their windows and using facial recognition software to try to identify one of them.Videos from a 30 October 2025 operation were disclosed in court as part of an ongoing class-action lawsuit challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) arrest tactics and racial profiling by agents. Lawyers for one of the detained farm workers shared the footage with the Guardian. Continue reading...

New undercover video appears to show cruel treatment of salmon at Cooke hatchery amid push for ‘chickenification’ of fishThe Trump administration is keen to do to fish what has been done to chickens – mass-produce them on an industrial scale to accelerate the US’s output of seafood.But this “chickenification” of fish may come at a hefty cost to the environment and to the fish themselves, as a new undercover video at one of the country’s leading fish farms has highlighted. Continue reading...

• Soybean farmers Scott Gaffner from Illinois and Cordt Holub from Iowa pleaded with President Trump to finalize a soybean deal at his upcoming China summit. • They highlighted impacts of high diesel prices and market uncertainty on US agriculture amid trade tensions. • The appeal comes as Trump prepares to meet Xi Jinping, seeking to stabilize farm exports critical to rural economies.

Al Nahyans’ control over farmland in Europe has meant they receive proportion of payments to farmsThe United Arab Emirates’ ruling royal family is benefiting from tens of millions in EU subsidies to grow crops destined for the Gulf, it can be revealed.A cross-border investigation by DeSmog and shared with the Guardian found subsidiaries controlled by the Al Nahyans collected more than €71m (£61m) in six years for farmland it controls in Romania, Italy and Spain. Continue reading...

Powerful property and farming firm Grosvenor Group says knock-on effect of Iran war could arrive next yearFertiliser shortages caused by the Iran war have driven up costs for UK farmers by up to 70% and will have a “dramatic” impact on food prices globally next year, according to one of Britain’s most powerful property and farming companies.Mark Preston, executive trustee of the 349-year-old Grosvenor Group, controlled by the Duke of Westminster, said fertiliser “was already quite expensive” before the 50% to 70% surge in prices since the start of the Iran war in late February. Continue reading...

State’s top insurance regulator says insurance company violated law while handling claims from 2025 wildfiresCalifornia is seeking millions of dollars in penalties from State Farm after an investigation found the insurance company was slow to investigate and underpaid claims from the 2025 Los Angeles-area wildfires, regulators announced on Monday.State Farm violated the law hundreds of times in a sampling of 220 cases, the state’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, said. The maximum penalty amount allowed by law would be about $4m if State Farm is found to be “willful” in violating state law. Regulators may also temporarily suspend the company’s license, effectively prohibiting the state’s largest home insurer from writing new policies for a year in California. Continue reading...

Exclusive: ‘Fish sludge’ in coastal waters now has nutrient levels equivalent to those in untreated effluent of country the size of Australia, report findsNorwegian fish farms are filling fjords and other coastal waters with nutrient pollution equivalent to the raw sewage of tens of millions of people each year, a report has found.Norway is the largest farmed salmon producer in the world, and nutrients in fish feed are excreted directly into coastal waters. Analysis from the Sunstone Institute found that Norwegian aquaculture released 75,000 tonnes of nitrogen, 13,000 tonnes of phosphorus and 360,000 tonnes of organic carbon in 2025. Continue reading...

Fishing companies can also access up to 70% subsidies, in loosening of state aid rules for ‘most exposed sectors’Business live – latest updatesThe EU is to subsidise up to 70% of the extra cost of fuel and fertilisers caused by the Iran war for farmers, fishing businesses and road hauliers as part of a package of emergency measures unveiled on Wednesday.Individual companies can claim up to €50,000 each between now and the end of the year with minimum paperwork, a measure the EU hopes will remove what it sees as an existential threat to hauliers and farmers. Continue reading...

CSIRO researcher says there are reports of up to 4,000 mouse burrows per hectare in parts of Western AustraliaGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGrain growers are on high alert as mouse numbers in Western Australia reach plague proportions and numbers surge in South Australia.Steve Henry, who researches mice and their impact on the grain industry at CSIRO, says more than 800 mice per hectare is considered a plague. Continue reading...

About 500 farmers challenge Green Gen Cymru in high court over alleged disregard for landowners and biosecurityA group of 500 Welsh farmers have brought a landmark legal claim to the high court over the alleged conduct of a green energy developer planning to build electricity pylon routes across their land.The court will hear allegations that Green Gen Cymru “unlawfully sought entry to private land, intimidated landowners, and showed disregard for biosecurity and basic rights”, as well as examine laws that force landowners to sell property to utility companies, in a hearing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Continue reading...

Move marks government’s most radical attempt to weaken impact of soaring wholesale gas prices on electricity costsClean energy generation exceeded rise in global electricity demand in 2025The government has confirmed plans to move older wind and solar farms which make up almost a third of Great Britain’s power market on to fixed-price contracts to help protect households and businesses from future gas market shocks.Under the plans, first revealed by the Guardian, renewable energy projects that earn subsidies on top of the market price will be asked to sign up to contracts that pay a set price for electricity as part of the government’s plan to “delink the price of electricity from the price of gas”. Continue reading...

Map reveals most severe concentrations of ammonia emissions, which are dangerous to health and environmentAmmonia pollution hotspots have been identified in areas with some of the greatest numbers of intensive pig and poultry farms in Britain, research has revealed.A new map for the first time reveals the most severe concentrations of ammonia emissions are clustered in Lincolnshire, Herefordshire and Norfolk. These regions all have a high density of intensive poultry and pig units that drive dangerous levels of ammonia, according to researchers from Compassion in World Farming (CiWF) and Sustain. Continue reading...

Record high set on Monday and raised on Tuesday, with 14.4GW of electricity generated in sunny spring weatherBritain’s sunny spring weather powered the grid to new solar energy records on two consecutive days this week.Solar farms in England, Wales and Scotland generated 14.1 GW of low-carbon electricity at lunchtime on Monday, surpassing the previous high of 14GW in July last year. Continue reading...

Kyriakos Mitsotakis calls alleged scamming of EU agricultural funds ‘a turning point’ The Greek prime minister has vowed to tackle what he has called a “deep state” he says is plaguing the country, as he sought to address a burgeoning political crisis over a farm fraud scandal that has forced the resignation of multiple government ministers.In a speech, aired on national TV, Kyriakos Mitsotakis attempted to limit the damage, describing the revelations as “a turning point” that had turbo-charged his commitment to rooting out entrenched corruption. Continue reading...

Levy on inherited farms and family businesses worth £2.5m or more comes into force 6 AprilA new inheritance tax regime for UK farms and family businesses comes into force on Monday and will present “significant challenges” for those affected, according to accountants.In October 2024 the government announced plans to levy inheritance tax on farms – prompting an outcry in many quarters. Continue reading...

Ripple effects of oil and fertiliser shortage felt by farmers in India and Sri Lanka despite governments saying there is enough stock to go roundGurvinder Singh never thought the war in Iran would touch his quiet corner of Punjab.Yet looking out over his smallholding, where he alternates between wheat and rice crops in the state known as India’s breadbasket, the 52-year-old farmer can barely think of anything else. His anxiety over a conflict playing out thousands of miles away is crippling as he fears what will come of this season’s rice crop. Continue reading...

Exclusive: documents chronicle years-long campaign to make it easier to build intensive livestock unitsMinisters are rewriting planning rules to make it easier to build intensive livestock farms despite concerns about water pollution, air quality and local opposition.Documents obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act show that proposed changes to the national planning policy framework (NPPF) were discussed by ministers and officials in response to concerns of the country’s leading chicken producers, who have been lobbying on the issue for at least two years. Continue reading...

Marsupial escaped from enclosure at Wisconsin’s Sunshine Farm on Wednesday after he was spooked by stray dogsHow does a kangaroo escape a petting zoo?It’s not the opening line to a dad joke. If you’re Chesney the kangaroo, you scale an 8ft (2.5-meter) fence and go on the lam for three days, giving your keeper sleepless nights and sending residents of a small Wisconsin town on a search that would end happily on Saturday. Continue reading...

State and federal leaders due to discuss assistance for business sectors but petrol rationing not expected to find backingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFarmers say the federal government must help them with tax breaks and underwriting fertiliser purchases to survive the fuel crisis, with Monday’s national cabinet expected to discuss more assistance to businesses amid ballooning petrol prices.Federal and state governments have remained tight-lipped about what would be on the meeting’s agenda but state premiers have urged the Albanese government to take a stronger national coordination role in the crisis. Continue reading...

Raw Farm was also linked to 2024 salmonella outbreak that sickened 165 people and deaths of two cats from bird fluA California raw milk dairy that was previously linked to a fatal outbreak of bird flu in cats has now been linked to an E coli outbreak involving cheddar cheese, affecting nine people in three states.The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an alert that more than half of the people sickened so far are children under age five. Three people have been hospitalized after contracting a dangerous strain of E coli – O157:H7 – with one developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that can lead to kidney failure. Continue reading...

President offered new federal loan guarantees and an update to renewable fuel standards to boost US agricultureDonald Trump is offering aid to farmers and food suppliers as they face a fresh set of challenges amid the US-Israel war on Iran, the White House announced Friday.After a White House event with farmers on Friday, Trump introduced several new measures, including new federal loan guarantees and an update to renewable fuel standards, meant to boost US agriculture as the conflict in Iran continues. Continue reading...

Allan Leighton predicts food prices will inevitably rise as group’s full-year profits dive by a third to £764mAsda’s executive chair has called on the government to “stand up and start doing stuff” to support farmers and ease the price of fuel as he warned that food prices would inevitably rise as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.Allan Leighton said farmers were under pressure but the supermarket had so far received “a trickle of requests not an avalanche” of cost price increases from its suppliers, as they were under pressure from higher fertiliser, energy and fuel costs. Continue reading...

• A joint U.S.-Ecuador military strike on March 6 targeting an alleged narco-terrorist training camp actually destroyed a dairy farm in the remote Ecuadorian village of San Martín in the Amazon jungle, according to a New York Times investigation. • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted video of the strike online claiming the U.S. was "bombing Narco Terrorists on land," but local residents reported Ecuadorian soldiers had arrived three days earlier by helicopter, interrogated and beat farmworkers, and set fire to structures before the bombing occurred. • The Alliance for Human Rights, an Ecuadorian coalition, filed a 13-page complaint with Ecuadorian authorities and the United Nations over the incident, raising serious questions about civilian casualties and military conduct in the operation.

Gavin Newsom set to sign bill to rename 31 March holiday following sexual abuse allegations against labour leaderCalifornia lawmakers have voted to rename Cesar Chavez Day as Farmworkers Day in an effort to reconcile the Latino labor leader’s legacy with explosive sexual abuse allegations before the state holiday on 31 March.Democratic governor Gavin Newsom is expected to quickly sign the bill. Continue reading...

Iran conflict could see shortages not just in fuel, but fertiliser and fossil fuel resins – used to make milk bottlesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFarmers say Australian consumers could pay more for everyday staples for the next year at least as a result of the US-Israel war on Iran.But the CEO of dairy farmer cooperative Norco, Michael Hampson, says a six to 12 month disruption to food supply is likely a best-case scenario, depending on the strait of Hormuz reopening soon and global petrochemical supply chains beginning to stabilise. Continue reading...

Closure of strait of Hormuz – a key fertilizer production and transportation route – has squeezed farmers as prices jumpRodney Bushmeyer has been farming as long as he can remember. Bushmeyer’s father was a farmer, as was his grandfather.The family-run Bushmeyer Farms in Illinois dates back more than 100 years, when his ancestors came to the US from Germany. They acquired the first 80 acres cost-free as homesteaders, cleared the land, and worked it. Continue reading...