England's hedgerows would stretch almost ten times around the Earth if lined up end to end. That's according to a new map - the most comprehensive to date - of these historic features of the landscape.

Ecologists hope the data will lead to better protections for the much-loved lines of trees and shrubs that provide food and shelter for wildlife, and store large amounts of carbon.

Laser scanning from the air reveals a total of 390,000 km of hedges.

Farm businesses wishing to invest in solar panels, robotics or automated equipment on-farm can now apply for grant funding through Defra’s Improving Farm Productivity scheme.

Funding of between £25,000 and £500,000 will be available for investment in robotic and automated equipment, with grants covering up to 50% of the total cost. For solar projects, grants of up to £100,000 will be up for grabs and these will cover 25% of the total project cost.

The funding is intended to help aid crop and livestock production and increase renewable energy generation on farm. Projects will be prioritised based on whether they can improve productivity, the environment or innovation, or introduce technology to address labour shortages.

Livestock farmers and industry have questioned whether the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has enough resources to cope with the current threat of animal diseases including avian influenza, African swine fever, schmallenberg and the rise in bluetongue cases.

Speaking at NFU Council this week, deputy president Tom Bradshaw said the industry was ‘seeing austerity in action', adding APHA were doing everything it could within its budget, but Government must think how it is going to better resource APHA to deal with these challenges.

NFU dairy board chair, Michael Oakes said he had been told by someone at APHA they were doing some contingency planning for a future foot and mouth outbreak. He said APHA would be 'overwhelmed in hours' with the pressures it currently faces.

The European Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) approved on Wednesday (24 January) new rules for new genomic techniques (NGTs). The plenary will vote in two weeks, but doubts remain on whether a law can be approved before the elections.

With 47 votes in favour to 31 against and 4 abstentions, a right-leaning majority agreed to set two categories of NGTs: gene-edited plants that are “indistinguishable” from those obtained through conventional breeding (NGT 1) – which would be exempted from the requirements of the GMO legislation – and those with more “complex modifications” (NGT 2) – which would follow stricter rules.

In line with the Commission’s proposal, presented in July, MEPs agreed that NGT seeds must be labelled accordingly but that there would be no mandatory labelling at consumer level for the NGT 1 products. Lawmakers also voted to keep all NGTs out of organic production – claiming their compatibility “requires further attention” – and to prevent EU countries from banning them in their territory. While the EU executive decided to leave the question of patents unanswered, MEPs voted to introduce a full ban on patents for NGTs “to avoid legal uncertainties, increased costs and new dependencies for farmers and breeders”.

Professor Tina Barsby, a renowned plant scientist from Cambridge, has highlighted the disconnect between the UK's leadership in academic agricultural science and its lagging agricultural productivity growth.

Despite the UK ranking third in high-citation academic studies in agriculture, behind China and the USA, this academic prowess has not translated into significant productivity growth or attracted substantial private sector investment in agricultural innovation.

Barsby, reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the UK Agri-Tech Strategy, expressed frustration over its failure to catalyse a significant increase in productivity growth, inward investment, and collaborative models between the government, industry, and science sectors.

Defra has given the green light for growers to use a neonic seed treatment on the 2024 sugar beet crop, but with stricter conditions than previous years.

Syngenta’s Cruiser SB can only be used if there is a danger, as evidenced by an independent prediction, of yellows viruses incidence of 65% or more.

If this threshold is not met, use of the product will not be permitted, the government confirmed. Farming Minister Mark Spencer said the decision to approve the neonic was based on 'robust scientific assessment' and the risks had been 'evaluated very carefully.'

A unique project to develop a commercially viable system for precisely targeting orchard inputs to specific trees, or even parts of a tree, has been given the go-ahead.

The project will use cutting-edge tech to digitally examine fruit trees in fine detail to allow inputs to be targeted in a way that has never been seen before in UK orchards. The ultimate aim of the 4-year study is to reduce the environmental impact of fruit production by using fewer plant protection products, while boosting efficiency.

It will use digital scanning to generate precision dosing maps for blossom and fruit thinning, fertiliser application, growth regulators, pest control, and fungicides, as well as provide more accurate yield forecasting for growers.

University research has revealed how regenerative farming can help soils hold nutrients and water around roots for longer, resulting in greater nutrient availability to crops.

These are the initial findings from a study being conducted at the University of Leeds Farm, aimed at shedding light on the benefits of regenerative cultivation techniques.

The study is comparing soil health, crop production, greenhouse gas emissions, and profit of different farming systems across seven 12x40m plots.

Consumers and food safety groups should get over the ‘yuck factor' and embrace edible insects as part of a more sustainable food system, according to a new report.

The UK Edible Insect Association (UKEIA) study, produced with support from the University of Sheffield's Institute for Sustainable Food, said edible insects are environmentally-friendly sources of protein and could help find solutions to other issues such as tackling climate change.

The research also highlighted that current Food Standards Agency (FSA) Novel Food Regulations impose an extremely high barrier to entry for edible insect companies, potentially restricting the sector's potential to contribute to a more sustainable food system.

A feed additive that reduces methane emissions from cattle, with company claims of average reductions in dairy cows of 30%, has been approved for use in the UK.

Dutch-Swiss human and animal nutrition group DSM-Firmenich has announced it has received regulatory approval for its methane-reducing feed additive, Bovaer.

This is the first authorisation in the UK for a feed additive aimed at cutting methane emissions in cows.