Joined September 2014
758 Photos and videos
Great working with @RingersWm , I thought there were 5 barn owl chicks, thrilled to find they had reared all 6. Amazing hunting skills to keep them all fed.
šŸ¦‰ What a hoot! Last night we visited the fantastic wildlife-friendly farm at @LeedhamAlan to check and ring some young Barn Owls. We were amazed to find 6 healthy chicks 🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣 in the nest box! A real credit to the parent owls, who are doing an incredible jobšŸ’š
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Alan Leedham retweeted
We are facing a potential crisis and the Treasury and DEFRA need to start working coherently on food security — now. British farming is already under huge pressure from the inheritance tax changes, subsidy chaos and rising costs. Now four more problems are hitting together: • the Iran crisis threatening global fertiliser supply; • new El NiƱo warnings which could damage harvests across the southern hemisphere leading to global shortages; • environmental charges increasing costs of fertiliser; and • supermarkets being encouraged to keep food prices down, which would feed back down the supply chain to squeeze producers There is a limit to how many extra costs farmers can absorb. The danger is not empty shelves tomorrow. It is a growing squeeze over the next 12–18 months: • less fertiliser used • lower crop yields • less confidence to invest • greater reliance on increasingly expensive imports Right now government does not appear to have a coherent approach to these huge risks. Ministers across the Treasury and DEFRA need to get a grip on our food security. Saying ā€œwe can import moreā€ is not good enough. The window to act is closing fast. @VictoriaAtkins @EmmaforWycombe
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Alan Leedham retweeted
New analysis from Jeremy Moody of the CAAV has found that an average commercial 500 acre cereals farm could, on present expectations, lose £70,000 on the 2027 crop. Bc of Iran war & other pressures incl extreme weather & CBAM Farmers are making 2027 planting decisions now
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Alan Leedham retweeted
Fertilizer costs have reached shocking levels threatening farm viability. The government’s 2027 carbon tax will add another Ā£50 - 75/t forcing Britains farmers to abandon autumn planting decisions. Food prices will rise, import dependency will increase ā˜¹ļø The carbon tax on fertilizer must be scrapped immediately. #NetZeroNetStupid #FoodSecurity #FarmingCrisis #CarbonTax #AutumnPlanting #BritishFarming #FoodInflation #SupportFarmers
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Alan Leedham retweeted
The government is still planning on introducing a fertiliser import tax in 2027. This makes fertiliser even more expensive to the farmer.
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Alan Leedham retweeted
Cow successfully applies and gets waste transfer license from Environmental Agency @EnvAgency
Wiltshire farmer Ann Maidment, 42, has brilliantly exposed the ā€œridiculousā€ government waste licensing system, by registering her prize cow Beau Vine as an official rubbish disposer. It took just five minutes online and cost Ā£184. The Environment Agency approved it instantly. No ID, no business checks, no criminal record verification, just a tick-box promise of no environmental offences. Her family cattle farm in north Wiltshire has been repeatedly hit by fly-tippers dumping everything from asbestos to kitchen waste. Ann’s message is simple: ā€œA system that cannot stop a cow cannot stop a criminal.ā€ Fly-tipping now costs Britain Ā£1 billion a year, with 1.26 million incidents last year alone, many carried out by licensed ā€œcarriersā€ who then illegally dump on rural land. Farmers are left with tens of thousands in clean-up bills while the system smooths the path for organised crime. Government now promises tougher checks… but the cow licence proves it’s been wide open for years.
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Alan Leedham retweeted
Older farming systems were built around ecological balance rather than chemical correction. Maybe less chemicals in our food is a good thingšŸ¤·šŸ¼ā€ā™‚ļø
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Alan Leedham retweeted
Inept government decisions at the highest level lead to UKs two bioethanol plants being closed in a botched trade deal with Trump last year. Essential products - bioethanol, high quality protein feed and CO2 all lost. Longer term wider bio-based products potential. @Mather_Keir
Mothballed Teesside biofuel plant set to reopen amid Iran War shortage fears ift.tt/g5W7pHK
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Alan Leedham retweeted
Mar 25
Not quite. Capitalism means voluntary exchange and competition on a level field—but UK farms face asymmetric burdens: domestic red tape, Net Zero mandates, fuel/fertiliser taxes, and subsidy cuts that cheap imports (often from subsidized or lower-standard producers) sidestep. That's policy distortion, not pure market forces. Fix the distortions at home, and markets can sort it—while preserving resilience. Dependency on foreign supply chains has hidden costs when shocks hit.
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Alan Leedham retweeted
As you know, farming is very close to my heart. I have had lots of questions on what Restore Britain would do for rural Britain. The following points will form the basis of our Restore Britain agriculture policy. Above all else, we are clear that food security is national security. Without it, the country starves to death. It really is that simple. So what would Restore Britain deliver for British farmers? Fix delayed and unpredictable subsidy payments. Payments must be on time and reliable. Cashflow matters for farmers. I am one. I understand better than most. Uncertainty is a real killer. Anyone in farming knows how volatile the system is. Mutating rules are impossible to follow. Not to mention the ludicrous staff turnover at DEFRA. Farming is a long term, capital intensive business. It needs one thing above all else. STABILITY. Farmers need a five to ten year plan, absolute minimum. I pushed DEFRA on this - I received a totally clueless response. They just don’t care. Slash and simplify red tape - and let farmers FARM. Enough inspections for the sake of inspections. Enough paperwork that adds cost but no value. Stop the endless form filling. Hours and hours farmers spend filling out these pointless sodding forms. Restore Britain will get farmers FARMING. Reform DEFRA and Natural England from top to bottom. These bodies have become obstacles rather than enablers. They need root-and-branch change. Mass sackings. Bring in people with genuine agricultural experience. The current inhabitants are city-dwelling liberals who understand nothing about rural Britain. Not good, not working, not acceptable. Start again. Review the power of the supermarket distribution oligopoly. A handful of buyers hold excessive power over our farmers. Producers should not be forced to sell at such low costs while a tiny number of supermarkets protect their margins - urgent review needed. Restore Britain will deliver fair competition. Ensure fairness. British farmers are required to meet ultra high standards, so imports must meet the same. They do, or they don’t come in. British farmers must not be undercut by overseas producers benefiting from cheaper transport, lower standards, and often hidden state support. With Restore Britain, fair competition means equal rules. End the punishment of farmers under lunatic Net Zero policies. Farmers should not be penalised for heating buildings, running machinery, or producing food. When China burns through a mountain of coal every few seconds, we must realise that British farmers are not the enemy. Scrap EU-era rules we no longer have to follow. Keep what works. Bin what doesn’t. Brexit should mean regulatory freedom. We left. Despite the total mess it has been, we must at least get some of the benefits for British farming. Relax and radically simplify planning. Restore Britain will allow and encourage diversification - farm shops, processing, storage, tourism, and sensible on-farm development. Give tax breaks for diversification and stop blocking rural enterprise. Overhaul planning. Hand the power to responsible farmers, and away from the council planning toads. It's their land, they should be able to do what they like (within reason.) Protect family farms through fair taxation. Restore Britain would scrap the farming tax in its entirety. Scrap ALL inheritance tax. And not just for farmers, but for everyone. We must help older farmers pass farms on to the next generation without being punished for doing so. Invest in people. Restore Britain would expand farming apprenticeships. Help vocationally minded young people into agriculture. We would give the next generation of farmers a future that they are willing to dedicate their life too. It is a risk. If they take it and succeed, they should be rewarded. Back British labour. Make it easier for British workers to take up farm work. Use benefit claimants who constantly refuse work to pick vegetables or whatever. We DO NOT need cheap unskilled foreign labour. We’ve got it right here. Clamp down on seasonal visas - it’s being abused to import low-skilled labour from incompatible cultures that go on to overstay their visa, commit crime and generally become a nuisance to our society. Support domestic fertiliser and input production. Restore Britain would immediately act to reduce reliance on volatile global supply chains for essential inputs. Food security depends on input security. This is so important. Without this, there is no farming. You don’t just plant a seed in the ground and there’s a vegetable months later, despite what many MPs believe. Scrap the proposed firearms licence changes. They are unnecessary, bureaucratic, and would criminalise responsible farmers while doing absolutely nothing for public safety. We would leave responsible gun owners alone. Public sector buying British. This is a huge, untapped market. We’ve got schools and hospitals shipping in poor quality produce from overseas, rather than purchasing from local farmers. That’s wrong. Even if it’s slightly more expensive, the knock-on effects for the economy will be vast. The public sector is a vast buying power - use it to back OUR farmers. A Restore Britain Government would BUY BRITISH. Enforce CLEAR labelling. People must know exactly what they are buying - where it was produced, to what animal welfare and food safety standards, and under which regulatory regime. No misleading packaging. Make it abundantly clear what is British and what is not. We all want to support our farmers, let’s make it as easy as possible. Non-stun slaughter, banned. I have been consistent on this. It is cruel, barbaric and un-British. Animal welfare comes ahead of religious exemptions. Both halal and kosher slaughter would be banned, happily. This is the basis of Restore Britain's policy for rural Britain. There will be much more to come. I believe it is all logical, and would deliver the food security that Britain so desperately needs in an uncertain world. Farmers - it’s been a long time, I know. But you finally have a political party that will fight for you. Not just to reverse recent changes, but to fundamentally overhaul the ENTIRE system. Restore Britain is on your side. I hope you consider backing us.
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Alan Leedham retweeted
How’ve we gotten to the place after a decade of policy development that the best the UK can manage for food production is to import it & the best we can do for nature is ring our hands & wonder why those working for half the minimum wage aren’t funding it from their own pockets?
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Alan Leedham retweeted
EU proposing to suspend CBAM on fertiliser imports in recognition of the dire financial straights facing their farmers - while also boosting support payments by ~10% to a bloc budget of €400bn. @EmmaforWycombe @angelaeagle fwi.co.uk/business/markets-a…
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Alan Leedham retweeted
Labour's revised death tax will lose huge amounts. The Treasury now predicts that its post-climbdown family firm & farm death tax will raise a measley £370m, - a rounding error in the public finances - but that is still a huge overestimate - this tax will actually lose lots of money & hamstring the economy. It's the larger firms & farms that are still affected & the incentive effects will be large. The threat of forced sale to pay the tax wll push many into action that hinders growth: 1. Owners will cease investment in order to build up sufficent reserves to pay the tax 2. Owners will cease investment in order to lower the valuation of firms for tax purposes 3. Owners will emigrate in order to save the family firm 4. Fewer people will chose Britain as a place to start a business if 20% will confiscated on death. 1/7
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Alan Leedham retweeted
šŸšØšŸ‡«šŸ‡· Meanwhile in France Farmers refuse a confrontation & choose to sing and unite in front of Police & the Army instead. When Politicians declare Farmers as their enemy and deploy the Military against the people who grow everyone food, then they’re probably not working in the interests of the people anymore.
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Alan Leedham retweeted
šŸšØšŸ‡«šŸ‡· Meanwhile across France A number of treasonous Politicians are finding themselves ā€˜Shitted In’ their homes this Winter because the French Farmers have had enough.
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Alan Leedham retweeted
I spoke up for farmers in Parliament yesterday.Ā  Labour Ministers sat there laughing - all whilst farmers watched on from the public gallery. This is the level of disrespect our farmers have come to expect šŸ‘‡
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Alan Leedham retweeted
MPs are debating Inheritance Tax ahead of a vote on the Finance Bill. šŸšØšŸ—³ļø Markus Campbell-Savours advised ministers to take note of his colleagues on Government benches who have been increasingly vocal and to recognise the ā€˜deep discomfort' this is causing across rural Britain. šŸ‘©ā€šŸŒ¾ READ MORE: ow.ly/5xhF50XKtSK
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Alan Leedham retweeted
Why, oh why, will the Prime Minister not change course? Parliamentary Committees, MPs, farming stakeholders & our hard working farming community are all calling for his disastrous Family Farm Tax to be scrapped. But the PM remains determined to push on - despite all warnings.
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Alan Leedham retweeted
I’ve had to take myself away from politics for the last couple of hrs. I’m in disbelief. I’ll always give politicians, whatever colour badge,the benefit of the doubt of ā€œcockup over conspiracyā€. Starmer is something else. Soulless, heartless, vindictive

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