A refreshed government agri-tech strategy that helps unlock the potential of agriculture to deliver multiple benefits is now vital for the next decade, a report says.

There is 'clearly' a need for a new ag-tech strategy for the next 10 years following on from first one, launched in 2013, according to Agri-TechE's report.

While there is 'much optimism' for the next decade of UK and global agri-tech innovation, contributors to the report also identify challenges.

Farmers in the Fens are utilising insights from satellite technologies to help them combat the impact of extreme weather while boosting food security.

The new study is working with East Anglian farmers, as well as farmers in Kenya, to take advantage of data from cutting-edge satellite technology.

The research is proposing new solutions to give farmers better access to the data they need to make themselves more resilient to the impact of climate change.

Multi-drug resistance in UK animals remains at its lowest level since reporting started a decade ago as shown in a report published by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD).

The figures, published in the latest UK-Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance (VARSS) Report during World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week, show that antibiotic sales in food-producing animals remain at a 59% reduction since 2014. Sales of antibiotics of highest critical importance to human health remain at extremely low levels, accounting for less than half a percent of total veterinary antibiotic sales.

Abi Seager, Veterinary Medicines Directorate CEO said: "The VMD has been publishing antibiotic sales, use and resistance data for the UK's animal population for over a decade and the positive trends demonstrate the dedication of the UK's farmers and vets to ensure responsible antibiotic use in animals.”

Denmark has agreed on how to implement the world’s first tax on agricultural emissions, including flatulence by livestock.

This comes after months of negotiations between the country’s major parties, farmers, the industry, trade unions and environmental groups. The Green Tripartite agreement was first announced in June.

From 2030, farmers will have to pay a levy of 300 kroner ($43; £34) per tonne of methane (as per carbon dioxide equivalent) on emissions from livestock including cows and pigs, which will rise to 750 kroner in 2035.

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) GMO panel has issued a positive opinion on the safety of Impossible Foods’ heme protein ingredient (soy leghemoglobin), bringing the firm’s flagship products closer to commercialization in the EU.

There will now be a 30-day comment period, during which questions of a scientific nature will be addressed by EFSA and the European Commission. The Commission will then draft a decision to be brought to the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed.

Peer-reviewed research published recently, describes a new technology that could revolutionise a century-old approach to providing nitrogen to crops. The study, a collaboration of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Purdue University, and Pivot Bio, a sustainable agriculture company, presented first-of-its-kind evidence showing how gene-editing enhances microbes' ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and transfer it to cereal crops.

Using isotopically labeled nitrogen, researchers traced nitrogen in the air to chlorophyll of corn leaves, providing evidence that it was fixed from the air by the gene-edited microbes. Field studies also showed that these microbes could fix and supply nitrogen comparable to up to 40 lbs of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer with similar yields.

It is a common complaint in the produce aisle: tomatoes today might be big, but they are tasteless. Now researchers say they can remedy the problem by tweaking genes that affect sugar levels in the fruit.

While their wild relatives produce small, sweet fruit, domesticated tomatoes grown industrially have been bred for high yields, resulting in varieties that are 10-100 times bigger.

Now scientists in China say they have identified two genes that put a brake on sugar production in tomatoes during ripening, and created gene-edited versions of domesticated varieties to result in fruit that is large but also sweet.

The viable UK rapeseed area for 2024-25 is forecast to be the smallest in the past four decades, with industry estimates pegging it at 215,000ha ahead of next year’s harvest.

Farmers’ co-operative United Oilseeds suggests this would leave the UK with a domestic crop of about 663,850t in 2025 – well below even the hard-hit 2024 crop of 833,900t.

Despite firmer prices this autumn, cabbage stem flea beetle pressure on plantings in previous years and dwindling yields have left some farm businesses wary of growing the crop.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has invested millions of pounds into a pioneering project aimed at developing a vaccine that would reduce methane emissions from cattle.

Researchers at the Pirbright Institute in Surrey and the Royal Veterinary College are working with an international consortium to build scientific evidence for a vaccine that can reduce the number and activity of methane-producing microbes, or methanogens, in a cow’s gut.

The project, which is being backed by a $9.4m (£7.3m) grant from the Bezos Earth Fund, is exploring the potential of a vaccine to reduce these emissions by 30%.

A fundamental shift in how land-use subsidies are implemented would give taxpayers better value for money and improve the UK’s chances of meeting its environmental targets.

The government’s commitment to the biggest expansion in woodland for half a century to reach Net Zero by 2050 requires them to pay landowners to convert agricultural land into woodland.

These payments are allocated using flat-rate subsidies, which provide a consistent per-hectare payment to landowners regardless of the suitability of the land for tree-planting. Researchers from the University of Exeter Business School have demonstrated that these flat-rate subsidies are not only ineffective but could actually increase net greenhouse gas emissions.

Farmers are being urged to have their say on how agriculture should be represented in the national curriculum, to ensure schoolchildren and students gain a better understanding of the sector and the opportunities available.

The call, co-ordinated by the Industry Careers Action Plan (Icap) group, follows the government’s launch of a comprehensive review of the national curriculum in July, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to shape the content of the updated curriculum.

Icap, which includes representatives from AHDB, the Chartered Institute of Horticulture, Country Trust, the Fresh Produce Consortium, Lantra, Leaf, the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC), and The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (Tiah), has sent an open letter to farmers and growers. The group feel the current curriculum misrepresents the sector, creating misconceptions about its role in food security, sustainability, climate change, and career opportunities.

In what could be a boon for local tomato production around the world, trait development company Phytoform just unveiled a mini version of the popular Ailsa Craig tomato variety that’s one-sixth the size of a conventional tomato plant and produces fivefold the amount of fruit.

The UK-based startup utilises gene editing to get this result, accelerating changes that might naturally occur through traditional breeding methods. Phytoform has also made this tomato “tailored to the needs of vertical farms.”

“We hope our tomatoes are going to be a reset for vertical farming,” says Phytoform founder and CEO Dr. William Pelton. “It’s a small crop that can transform business models from thin margins to decent profits. The growers we’re working with are as excited as we are.”