We know as farmers that we are always working around the weather. However, this year, the weather was the most challenging I have ever faced.
Defra inflexibility
In the middle of May 2025, we told Defra that the dry weather would cause a serious lack of forage for livestock and that there must be derogations for agri-environment schemes without financial penalty.
Seven months down the line, I am still extremely disappointed that Defra and the government showed no flexibility or willingness to help when the sector was in need.
Extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent, so this inflexibility must never be allowed to happen again.
Productivity increases
The summer of 2026 will finally see the rollout of the new Livestock Information Service, replacing the Cattle Tracing System. This means we will have a much slicker service, as well as productivity metrics available to us on our keeper dashboard – for instance, calving intervals – which will help us with our businesses’ bottom lines.
We hope that, eventually, with this new system that allows real-time reporting, we can find a smarter alternative to the current six-day standstill rules.
“Let’s push for growth in our sector.”
NFU Livestock Board chair David Barton
Split-gas emissions reporting
The Livestock Board pioneered the new NFU policy position on split-gas emissions reporting.
Ensuring methane is reported accurately is of upmost importance for the ruminant sectors. Without accurate metrics, government policy will never truly reflect what is happening in our climate.
This is a global conversation, and we are right at the heart of it defending British livestock producers.
Sector in good shape for growth
As we look towards 2026, British beef and sheep meat markets remain firm, reflecting tight supply and strong consumer demand both domestically and internationally.
We must take confidence from this and reverse the current trend of a declining livestock population here in the UK – let’s push for growth in our sector.
