Severn Trent is working in collaboration with a UK tech firm to adopt a new treatment process and convert wastewater sludge into a 'super fertiliser'.

The project has the potential to combine carbon dioxide with otherwise hard-to-treat ammonia and make a commercial fertiliser for farms.

It focuses on a new process, developed by 'cleantech' company CCm Technologies, which uses captured carbon dioxide to stabilise chemicals held within waste streams, turning them into sustainable plant nutrients. This gives the potential to develop an enhanced fertiliser product for agricultural application, potentially creating new commercial opportunities for Severn Trent.

The industry and government must together seize the opportunities presented by new policy frameworks and technology to lead a transformation in our farming industry.

Driving a massive step change in productivity growth is the key to unlocking a successful future highlights a major report published today by the Food & Drink Sector Council (FDSC).

With the UK leaving the EU, imminent changes to agricultural policy and the pressure to achieve net zero emissions, the report, prepared by industry experts for the FDSC, highlights the steps that together, industry and government can take to overcome the productivity challenge that has long faced the British farming industry.

DNA analysis is highlighting valuable differences in soil biology under different soil management regimes, offering the opportunity to secure real and lasting improvements in crop and environmental health.

As part of the Achieving Sustainable Agricultural Systems (ASSIST) programme, researchers from Agrii and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) are working to achieve a far better understanding of soil biology to inform future agricultural and environmental policy and practice.

Common estimates for global food waste are too low, according to Dutch researchers, who suggest every person in the world is wasting about 500 calories of food a day.

Without waste, we could feed five people instead of four, they said. The study found food waste goes up with the increase of money in our pockets, possibly reaching more than twice the levels we thought previously.

Reducing food waste is a key challenge in fighting climate change. Wasted and lost food accounts for almost 10% of all our greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN.

Grassland farmers can now use a pasture management tool that uses satellites to help predict grass covers instead of having to measure grass using plate meters.

Grass Sat uses a grass growth model that monitors more than 20 different parameters, including daily weather, soil and earth observation from satellites. Alongside this, farmers enter management activities into the tool.

The model makes hundreds of complex calculations every hour, which produces information on soil properties, grass characteristics and grass growth rates (kg dry matter/ha).

The French government must in the coming months change its policy on crops developed using a breeding technique called mutagenesis to adhere to stricter rules for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), a court ruled on Friday.

The decision by France’s top administrative court follows a ruling by the Europe Union’s highest court in 2018 that mutagenesis, often called gene-editing, should be subject to GMO regulations.

An international group of scientists, led by Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre, has opened its door to healthier wheat varieties, after pinpointing genes responsible for the dietary fibre content of flour.

The high fibre white flour produced has as much as twice the fibre of traditional white flour, but is otherwise identical and makes a good quality white loaf with all the added health benefits which come from eating wholemeal bread.

NIAB has opened its new Cambridge headquarters following a two-year, £25 million redevelopment and construction project.

The new Lawrence Weaver Road headquarters includes offices, state-of-the-art laboratories, growth room facilities and meeting rooms, all improving and modernising NIAB’s facilities in Cambridge.

It is also the base for the Crop Science Centre - a partnership between NIAB and the University of Cambridge – working with industrial partners to translate the University’s strong fundamental plant research into outputs for the farmer, processor and consumer, both in the UK and across the world.

US authorities have concluded that glyphosate is safe for use and herbicides containing this active ingredient are not carcinogenic. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reaffirmed the safety of glyphosate based on the agency’s expert review over a 10-year period.

In its review, released on Friday 31 January, the government regulator concluded that it “did not identify any human health risks from exposure to glyphosate.” It also said that “it used the most current science policies and risk assessment methodologies to prepare a risk assessment in support of the registration review of glyphosate.”

The Government has announced that a fast-track visa will open next month to attract the world's leading scientists.

The visas will have no cap on the numbers of suitably qualified people able to come to the UK.

The announcement follows a pledge last year by the PM to turn the UK into a "supercharged magnet to attract scientists like iron filings".