This year, we awarded £12.2 million funding to projects that solve long-term challenges to plants, crops and farmed animals.

Mark Spencer visited one of the winners of the ‘On farm Environmental Resilience’ competition, Wye Hops Limited, to learn more.

University of Kent

This week: fighting to save train-making in Derby; Leicestershire families see a cut in funds for children with special educational needs & fair play in football? Politicians back Forest & Leicester’s points deduction protests. BBC1, 10am. Guests Mark Spencer & Louise Jones

We are grateful to the Farming Minister Mark Spencer for his speech highlighting the Government's intention to increase transparency across the three sectors via new regulations for the pig sector and the egg sector, as well as a review into fairness in the poultry supply chain.

Delighted to support the Bill whilst wearing my Cats Protection Advocacy Team tie 😄

Watch📺Mark Spencer confirms the Government will be supporting Selaine Saxby MP's Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill! 🐶🐾

We're thrilled that after 10 years of campaigning against #PuppySmuggling , this Bill will help tackle the awful trade.

This week I hosted a mental health roundtable with organisations that help look out for farmers.
A great opportunity to hear from attendees about the main drivers of mental health concerns in the sector and how farmers can be better supported. #Farming

Last week I toured the 2 Sisters Food Group facility with the team from British Poultry Council and Food Standards Agency.

2 Sisters Food Group produce around a third of all poultry products eaten every day in the UK. 🐔

Weed control poses a significant challenge for farmers 🌿

RootWave | Zaps Weeds | Zero Chemicals has devised an innovative and eco-friendly electric weeder to eradicate weeds.

Farming Minister, Mark Spencer went to see how the funding they've received from Defra has helped them 👇

Minister Mark Spencer met with Cecilie Myrseth at the Norway-UK Summit yesterday . 🇳🇴🇬🇧

A great opportunity to continue to strengthen the UK’s close cooperation with our Norwegian neighbours on seafood and fisheries.

#SustainableFisheries

A wide range of issues covered off with Defra UK Minister Mark Spencer today. #RockReview #ELMS #Dartmoor #HS2 #SpringBudget

If you have a new farming product or service you want to develop, a £7.8m Large R&D Partnerships competition is open now for applications:

farminginnovation.ukri.org

Keeping control of weeds is a crucial task all farmers face.
 
It was fascinating to see RootWave | Zaps Weeds | Zero Chemicals's innovative solution to avoid using chemical herbicides.
 
In developing their electric weeder, they received £170k as part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme.

Third #BuyBritishButton success - Sainsbury's become biggest supermarket to launch ‘Best of British’ tab following my campaign 🚜🌾🇬🇧
✅ This makes it even easier for shoppers to buy homegrown produce, cut down on unnecessary food miles and support our nation’s farmers!
(1/3)

At the NFU conference this week, farmers’ mental health campaigner, Zoe Legg asked farmers, as well as our very own Steve Barclay and Mark Spencer, why they love what they do and how they look after their mental health. #NFU24

NFU members put their questions and concerns to Farming Minister Mark Spencer, Shadow Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner, and Liberal Democrat Efra Spokesperson Tim Farron this morning during the #NFU24 hustings, which was chaired by Sophy Ridge.

Supporting farmers, changing the approach, and strengthening food security.

Here's how this Government is backing British farmers ⬇️

Changes we’ve made to legislation mean that scientists can now develop:

🌾 More resilient wheat
🍓 Longer flowering strawberries
🍅 Vitamin D-packed tomatoes

Using #ScienceAndTechUK for more nutritious and resilient crops makes it good news for consumers and our farmers.

I am proud to celebrate #NationalApprenticeshipWeek and our food and drink manufacturing sector. Today I visited Mondelēz Intl Reading Science Centre with Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) to see first-hand how apprenticeships drive innovation in the sector and deliver growth to the UK economy. #NAW2024