皇家华人

Your Cambridgeshire county NFU update

Rory Kerr

Rory Kerr

Cambridgeshire County Adviser

It's been another busy month for the NFU in Cambridgeshire.

I hope everyone had successful and safe harvest. 

As many of you have been focused on completing harvest, the NFU Cambridgeshire team has been working on setting the County Plan for the 2025/26 membership year. 

This plan has been developed in line with the policy priorities agreed by the East Regional Board and will guide our engagement with members.

We encourage all members to take part, share views, and help shape how we respond to the challenges and opportunities ahead. Together, we can ensure Cambridgeshire鈥檚 farming community remains strong, resilient, and ready for the future

Here are some more of this month鈥檚 highlights.

US agriculture delegation visits Cambridgeshire 
A delegation of US state agriculture commissioners, organised by NASDA (National Association of State Departments of Agriculture), visited Cambridgeshire as part of a UK and Ireland tour to strengthen relationships and better understand British farming.

I joined them for visits to Childerley, an arable farm near Cambridge, and G鈥檚 Growers near Ely.

NASDA CEO Ted McKinney highlighted the importance of building mutual understanding and trust between US and UK farming sectors. He praised the NFU鈥檚 advocacy and expressed concern over proposed inheritance tax changes. Read the full article. 

Meeting the EA as water pressures continue
Water abstraction concerns were the focus of a recent on-farm meeting between senior Environment Agency (EA) staff and farmers in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, organised by the NFU.

Key EA staff visited farms in both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire to meet NFU Cambridgeshire County Chair Alison Morris, Tim Young (J S Young Farms), and Nick Allpress (Allpress Farms).

Following the visit, we received a positive update from the EA team confirming that abstraction in the Cut Off Channel will move from alternate nights to five nights per week.

Fire safety on farms
The extremely dry summer weather once again made conditions favourable for field and machinery fires.

We're working closely with the fire service and other stakeholders to improve fire safety on farms.Take a look at what we have been doing here and what you can change to help reduce risk

Back British Farming Day 
On 10 September, the NFU is hosting its tenth Back British Farming Day to celebrate British farmers and growers for the work they do and the food they produce. 

In the past decade it has seen the British public, as well as politicians, showing their support on a range of significant issues, bringing about positive change for the industry. Find out how to get involved.

Take our Glyphosate survey 
As part of the UK and EU's trade negotiations, the UK has committed to 'dynamically align', which means the UK will follow EU rules on many aspects of agricultural production, including regulation of pesticides. 

We need your help to understand how this will affect you. Please take our survey on potential restrictions to glyphosate use.

Local news

Farm tax tops the agenda during Kemi Badenoch farm visit

The NFU鈥檚 Stop the Family Farm tax dominated discussions when Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch visited a farm in her North West Essex constituency.

After trying her hand on the combine and learning more about the wheat harvest, in particular the current economics of wheat production, she sat down with a group of local farmers for an open discussion about farm issues.

As well as the damaging impact of inheritance tax changes, topics under discussion included rural crime, fairness in imported food products and the problems with current Government funding for farming.

The visit was hosted by Cambridgeshire Vice-chair Sam Goddard.

  • We are urging members to contact their MPs ahead of Back British Farming Day on 12 September

 

Find out about the Stop the Family Farm Tax campaign

Local news

Next steps for proposed Fens reservoir

皇家华人is aware that Heads of Terms for voluntary agreements have been circulated to members affected by the main Fens reservoir site.

皇家华人will be setting up a land agent working group to review the generic Heads of Terms. If you would like your land agent to be part of this group, please send their name, firm and contact details to [email protected].  

皇家华人is aware that there will be a further non-statutory consultation this autumn and a statutory consultation next spring. 皇家华人understands that Fisher German will be seeking one-to-one meetings with members affected ahead of the consultation launch.

皇家华人will contact those members affected once the consultation has been launched. 

Local news

Good turnout for P.X. Farms open day

皇家华人attended the P.X. Farms open day, hosted by James Peck at his farm just outside of Cambridge on 25 June.

The event consisted of panel discussions in the morning, with speakers including NFU Deputy President David Exwood. The afternoon consisted of working demonstrations and walking round the trade stands, where the NFU was represented by Richard Wordsworth, Stuart Head and Cambridge Group Secretary Jim Brunswick alongside RABI, engaging with show attendees. Stuart gave a presentation on health and safety statistics on farm.  

It was a useful occasion to engage with members, industry professionals and allied industries.