Dan Willis says the impact of the weather on his crop has been “horrific”
Farmers have blamed extreme wet weather followed by prolonged dry spells for a very poor harvest.
Dan Willis, who runs a farm near Newbury, said the weather had been “horrific”.
While George Brown, who also farms in West Berkshire, said he thought the conditions could lead to some farmers selling up.
Provisional government figures for the 2025 English barley harvest showed a 14% decrease compared to last year, while spring barley had fallen 23%.
Dan Willis runs the 1,500-acre Rookery Farm near Newbury. He said it had been a terrible harvest.
“Probably the worst I’ve recorded in my career, over 40 years.
“The weather has played its part horrifically. We had an extremely wet autumn, an extremely wet winter, followed by an extremely dry spring and summer.
“It really did impact the yields. Something in the order of between 50 and 70% in places.
But he believed farmers were very ingenious.
“They will find ways around things. They’ve got great resolve, that’s why we still produce food,” he said.
“If we didn’t have that resolve farming would be long gone in this country.
“You draw deep that you have friends which are in a similar position that you can talk it through with and you’ve got your family, and you’ve got to lean upon them.”
Government figures also revealed the majority of the main cereal crops saw lower yields this year compared to last year, with winter barley a notable exception.
Despite there being a nearly 10% increase in land dedicated to growing oats, that crop also showed a decrease in yield this year.
George Brown
George Brown thinks that some farmers will decide to sell their land
George Brown runs Priors Farm near also Newbury. He said it stayed dry for so long “I guess you can be grateful that you got any sort of crop”.
“Coming through June I think we were all very worried that we weren’t getting to a harvest at all at that point,” he said.
George thinks some farmers are selling up because of the financial pressures they are facing.
“If you look, there’s a huge amount of farm auctions, farm dispersal sales going on constantly at the moment,” he said.
“There’s a lot of land for sale. People don’t have the confidence to carry on.
“I absolutely want to keep farming, it gets to the point where if there’s no money in it then you’ve got to take a change of tack,” he said.
Dr Paola Tosi, an associate professor in Crop Science at the University of Reading, thinks farmers may have to get used to these conditions.
She said: “They’ve been extreme in the sense that they’re some of the worst we’ve seen on record, but I’m not sure we should use the term ‘unusual’.
“Last season was also not good.
“This could be the new usual. We need to come to terms with and tackle and make sure we prepared to fight it. To control it, to mitigate it.
“At the University of Reading there is research going back to 1990 saying that this was going to happen and that crops were going to suffer,” she said.
A GP practice deemed “unsafe” and “no longer fit for purpose” has been permanently closed down by NHS bosses.
Services were terminated at Crosby Village Surgery by the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) after a period of temporary closure and following several reviews.
Councillors at Bootle Town Hall were told the providers running the surgery, Crosby Village Surgery Ltd, had proposed to close it due to the building’s condition.
Patients will continue to be seen at two other surgeries, Crossways Practice and Thornton Practice.
Tracy Jeffes, interim place director at the ICB, told councillors the decision to close the surgery was “reasonable” due to the state of the building.
Councillor David Roscoe suggested the decision was removing a facility from a “densely populated area” and questioned whether the right infractructure was in place to meet demand.
He asked: “Is there any updates about getting some sort of health facility in that area, particularly located around Crosby village?”
Ms Jeffes responded: “At present, there isn’t a particular scheme [planned] in Crosby. As we discussed previously, there has been a limited amount of investment or capital investment available.
“I have to be honest, that has been a challenge – to improve the quality of the estate – but we’ve been trying our best to to bring investment in, to bring capital in where we can, and we’ll continue to refresh our estate plans.”
The rate of unemployment in Australia is on the rise again. Official labour force data released on Thursday shows that in the month to September, Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped from 4.3% to 4.5%.
That’s the highest rate since November 2021. The surprise jump strengthens the case for the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut the official cash rate in November.
Back in November last year, the seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment was 3.9%. It has now been above 4% for ten consecutive months, and has only been going in one direction: up.
What could this mean for interest rates?
In its recent decisions, the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy board has jumped at any signs of higher price inflation. But it has retained a favourable outlook on labour market conditions.
In its most recent September decision, the board stated:
labour market conditions have been broadly steady in recent months and remain a little tight.
Such an outlook does not seem an option in light of today’s unemployment numbers.
The Reserve Bank has a full employment mandate to achieve “the maximum level of employment consistent with low and stable inflation”.
The mandate doesn’t put a specific numerical rate on this full employment goal. However, the rate of unemployment is now well above any credible estimate of full employment.
Employment growth is slowing
The reason why the rate of unemployment is rising is not hard to spot. Employment growth is slowing.
In 2024, my calculations based on the official labour force data show an average of 32,600 extra people became employed each month, compared with an extra 33,900 looking for work.
With growth in employment and the labour force relatively balanced, the rate of unemployment remained stable.
So far in 2025, each month only an average of 12,900 extra people have moved into employment.
The number of people looking for work has responded to the weaker labour market conditions, also growing less each month than in 2024, by 22,100 on average.
But unemployment is rising because the increase in the number of people looking for work in 2025 has been much bigger than the increase in employment.
Labour force figures for September suggest the jobs market may be cooling. Joel Carrett/AAP
A cooling jobs market
No matter which statistic you look at, my analysis of the official labour force data reveals the signs of a weakening labour market are clear to see.
Monthly hours worked grew on average by 0.27% each month in 2024, but only 0.04% so far in 2025.
In 2024, the total stock of jobs rose by 351,600. In the first six months of 2025, it grew by just 44,100.
And the proportion of people who have jobs, but want to work more hours, has increased from 9.9% to 10.4% since the end of 2024.
Government spending
The reason employment growth is slowing is not what might have been expected – but is even more worrying.
Since about mid-2021, employment growth in Australia has been propped up by a fast pace of job creation in what is known as the non-market sector, which consists of:
health care and social assistance
education and training
public administration and safety.
That growth has come about as the federal government has pushed for improvements in the quality of government services, and expanded the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and childcare services.
It has been expected for some time that eventually, the rate of increase in government spending on services would slow. That would in turn cause growth in non-market employment and total employment to slacken.
What’s really driving the trend?
However, that is not what has caused the slower employment growth in 2025.
In fact, today’s data release shows that growth in total hours worked in the non-market sector has continued at pretty much the same pace as in previous years.
Instead, the drop-off in total hours worked has been due to employment in the market sector declining.
Private employers are responding to what they see as weaker economic conditions, by reducing the rate at which they are adding new jobs.
This is a further undeniable sign of a weakening labour market.
Givaudan, the global leader in Fragrance & Beauty, is proud to announce the opening of its new White Biotechnology Innovation Centre (BIC) in Toulouse. This state-of-the-art site strengthens Givaudan capabilities, advancing research and development, and accelerating the creation of high-precision beauty ingredients. Positioned within Givaudan’s biotechnology R&D and innovation ecosystem, the site will work in synergy with the other centres in Orsay and in Pomacle.
Givaudan Active Beauty imagines, designs, and creates iconic molecules that consumers love – leveraging biotechnology to deliver exceptional results. The BIC in Toulouse will feature cutting-edge laboratories that consolidate Givaudan’s expertise in white biotechnology, including a dedicated fermentation lab and biocatalysis development area. New scientific concepts can be efficiently scaled up and transformed into next-generation ingredients.
“Opening the White Biotechnology Innovation Centre in Toulouse is a milestone in Givaudan’s strategy to pioneer sustainable and scientifically supported cosmetic ingredients. This new centre reinforces Givaudan’s global footprint, enhancing collaboration across our different sites to co-create the future of beauty, in line with our 2030 strategy.”
Gilles Andrier, CEO of Givaudan
“This Innovation Centre is designed to foster teamwork and creativity between marketing and R&D. It will allow us to service our customers with original and award-winning innovative ingredient solutions.”
Markus Rassmann, Head of Active Beauty
Built with sustainability and innovation at its core, this new site in Toulouse enhances Givaudan’s collaborative capabilities, advancing the future of beauty through nature and science.
About Givaudan Givaudan is a global leader in Fragrance & Beauty and Taste & Wellbeing. We celebrate the beauty of human experience by creating for happier, healthier lives with love for nature. Together with our customers we deliver food experiences, craft inspired fragrances and develop beauty and wellbeing solutions that make people look and feel good. In 2024, Givaudan employed over 16,900 people worldwide and achieved CHF 7.4 billion in sales with a free cash flow of 15.6%. With a heritage that stretches back over 250 years, we are committed to driving long-term, purpose-led growth by improving people’s health and happiness and increasing our positive impact on nature. This is Givaudan. Human by nature. Discover more at: www.givaudan.com.
About Givaudan Fragrance & Beauty Givaudan Fragrance & Beauty crafts inspired fragrances to perfume lives and memories, and develops innovative beauty and wellbeing solutions that make people look and feel good all over the world. Nature is both our responsibility and our most precious muse. We are just as committed to sustainability as we are to creating innovative products that satisfy consumer needs and anticipate their desires. With a collaborative approach that favours co-creation, we have built a diverse portfolio across personal care, fabric care, hygiene, home care, fine fragrances, and beauty, reflecting our multidisciplinary expertise. This is Givaudan. Human by nature. Learn more at www.givaudan.com/fragrance-beauty.
About Givaudan Active Beauty Givaudan Active Beauty crafts avant-garde cosmetic actives and high-end specialties that make people look and feel good. We bring nature’s most precious gifts to the art of personal care in the form of biotech & botanical high-performing molecules, delighting consumers. Our extensive portfolio of award-winning skin & hair ingredients spans a variety of benefits for human beauty: from well-ageing and self-tanners to radiance, microbiome-friendly, soothers, hydrators, and more. Backed by solid scientific recognition and consumers’ awareness, we remain at the cutting edge of this rapidly expanding market to deliver sustainable solutions supporting the growth of our customers. This is Givaudan. Human by nature. Learn more at www.givaudan.com/fragrance-beauty/active-beauty.
For further information please contact Claudia Pedretti, Head of Investor and Media Relations T +41 52 354 0132 E claudia.pedretti@givaudan.com
Pauline Martin, Fragrance & Beauty Communications E pauline.martin.pm1@givaudan.com
India is projected to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2030, with strong growth across high-tech, automotive, consumer goods, and healthcare sectors. Rising demand in these industries is driving the need for scalable, high-performance logistics infrastructure.
The new fulfilment centres are equipped with automation technologies, including telescopic conveyors and high-performance sorting systems, enabling a 75% increase in peak order handling capacity.
The locations span tier-1 cities Mumbai and Kolkata, tier-2 hubs Gurgaon and Nagpur, and Rajpura in tier-3 — aligned with India’s multi-city industrial growth. Gurgaon and Nagpur continue to evolve as growth hubs for multiple industries, while Rajpura, is gaining traction in manufacturing and distribution.
“India is a key growth market for Kuehne+Nagel,” said Damian Raczynski, Senior Vice President, Contract Logistics, Kuehne+Nagel Asia Pacific. “We invest where our customers are — and this expansion strengthens our ability to serve high-demand sectors like consumer and healthcare with speed, reliability, and flexibility.”
Secures UL and cUL certifications for four types of low- and medium-voltage circuit breakers, reinforcing competitiveness in North America
Global low- and medium-voltage circuit breaker market projected to reach USD 29.2 billion by 2034, growing at a CAGR of 8.8%
“The company plans to expand its presence beyond high-voltage transformers to include low- and medium-voltage circuit breakers in North America.”
SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — HD Hyundai Electric has secured UL certification, establishing a foothold to expand its market share in North America’s low- and medium-voltage circuit breaker market.
Four models of HD Hyundai Electric’s low- and medium-voltage circuit breakers certified with UL and cUL
HD Hyundai Electric announced on Tuesday, October 14, that four types of its low- and medium-voltage circuit breakers — air circuit breakers (ACB), molded case circuit breakers (MCCB), vacuum circuit breakers (VCB), and magnetic contactors (MC) — have obtained UL (Underwriters Laboratories) and cUL (Canadian UL) certifications, the leading safety standards in the North American market.
The UL certification is a globally recognized mark of safety and quality granted by Underwriters Laboratories, a prominent U.S.-based safety certification organization, following rigorous testing and evaluation of electrical, electronic, and industrial equipment. Although not legally mandatory, UL and cUL certifications are effectively required for electrical products distributed in North America, particularly those with potential safety risks such as fire or electric shock. As such, they play a critical role in ensuring product reliability and enhancing market competitiveness.
Low- and medium-voltage circuit breakers are essential components in power distribution systems, delivering electricity generated at power plants to end users. They ensure stable power supply and protect facilities by interrupting excessive current flow during overloads. Depending on voltage levels, they are widely used across residential, commercial, and industrial applications — representing a large and resilient market closely tied to everyday life.
According to Global Market Insights, the global low- and medium-voltage circuit breaker market is projected to grow from USD 12.2 billion in 2024 to nearly USD 29.2 billion by 2034, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8% — a 2.4-fold increase over the decade.
An HD Hyundai Electric official said, “With the acquisition of UL certification, we plan to expand our presence beyond high-voltage transformers — where we have consistently held the top market share in North America — into the broader power distribution equipment sector, including low- and medium-voltage circuit breakers.”
Meanwhile, HD Hyundai Electric plans to complete the construction of a new power distribution equipment plant in Cheongju, Korea, by the end of this year, further supporting its expansion in the low- and medium-voltage segment. The new Cheongju plant will feature an advanced smart factory system designed to maximize manufacturing efficiency. Once completed, the facility is expected to double the company’s annual production capacity of low- and medium-voltage circuit breakers to approximately 13 million units.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) pump out nearly five times more planet-heating pollution than official figures show, a report has found.
The cars, which can run on electric batteries as well as combustion engines, have been promoted by European carmakers as a way to cover long distances in a single drive – unlike fully electric cars – while still reducing emissions.
Data shows PHEVs emit just 19% less CO2 than petrol and diesel cars, an analysis by the non-profit advocacy group Transport and Environment found on Thursday. Under laboratory tests, they were assumed to be 75% less polluting.
The researchers analysed data from the onboard fuel consumption meters of 800,000 cars registered in Europe between 2021 and 2023. They found real-world carbon dioxide emissions from PHEVs in 2023 were 4.9 times greater than those from standardised laboratory tests, having risen from being 3.5 times greater in 2021.
“Real-world emissions are going up, while official emissions are going down,” said Sofía Navas Gohlke, a researcher at Transport and Environment and the co-author of the report. “This is the gap that is getting worse and it is a real problem. As a result, PHEVs pollute almost as much as petrol cars.”
The researchers attributed most of the gap to overestimates of the “utility factor” – the ratio of miles travelled in electric mode to the total miles travelled – finding that 27% of driving was done in electric mode even though official estimates assumed 84%. The European Commission has announced two corrections to the utility factor ratio that will narrow the gap but not close it entirely, according to the analysis.
Even when the cars were driven in electric mode, the analysis found that levels of pollution were well above official estimates. The researchers said this was because electric motors were not strong enough to operate alone, with their engines burning fossil fuels for almost one-third of the distance travelled in electric mode.
Patrick Plötz, head of energy economics at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, who was not involved in the study, said it was a “very useful contribution” after years in which parts of the automotive industry argued there was too little data to accurately assess real-world emissions.
“The results demonstrate, beyond any doubt, that the gap between official and real-world PHEV fuel consumption and CO2 emissions is much, much larger than for gasoline or diesel cars,” said Plötz, who has published research on the topic. “Any policy changes with respect to PHEVs should be made with utmost care and in the light of that data.”
Hybrid cars have been drawn back into the political debate as carmakers have pressed the EU to weaken CO2 targets. A ban on new combustion engine cars in 2035 has been subject to heavy lobbying from the automotive industry and opposition from member states with large car industries.
“There must not be a drastic cut in 2035,” the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said after a summit last week with the country’s struggling automobile industry, promising to do “everything in [his] power” to achieve that. Other senior German politicians have floated plug-in hybrids as one example of possible “flexibilities” they could introduce to the legislation.
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The researchers calculated that the underestimate of PHEV emissions had let four major carmaker groups avoid more than €5bn (£4.3bn) in fines between 2021 and 2023, by making it artificially easier to comply with the EU’s fleet-average CO2 targets. They added that drivers of PHEVs would also be paying about €500 more a year in running costs than would be assumed under laboratory tests.
“The bold claims that manufacturers like to make about their plug-in hybrid vehicles are clearly way off the mark,” said Colin Walker, a transport analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit.
“Consumers are being duped into believing that in buying a PHEV, they are helping the environment and saving money,” he said. “In reality, PHEVs are little better than regular petrol and diesel cars when it comes to the fuel they consume, the CO2 they produce and the money they cost to run.”
Ian Falconer kept thinking about the heaps of discarded plastic fishing nets he saw at Newlyn harbour near his home in Cornwall. “I thought ‘it’s such a waste’,” he says. “There has to be a better solution than it all going into landfill.”
Falconer, 52, who studied environmental and mining geology at university, came up with a plan: shredding and cleaning the worn out nets, melting the plastic down and converting it into filament to be used in 3D printing. He then built a “micro-factory” so that the filament could be made into useful stuff.
“Every year, up to 1m tonnes of fishing nets are discarded,” he says. “Most of that ends up in landfill or is burned, or worse still finds its way back into the oceans. This showed there was another way for some of that material.”
The first big challenge he encountered when he started in 2016, was getting hold of the nets. But he badgered the Newlyn harbour master into giving him a few to test his theory in his kitchen.
From old nets to new glasses – one of the many products made from the waste plastic. Photograph: OrCA
Since its launch the following year, Falconer’s company OrCA (previously Fishy Filaments) has raised more than £1m from small investors in over 40 countries. The investment funded the development of patented new machinery that can convert more than 20 kilos of nylon fishing nets an hour. He claims the recycling process has less than 3% of the carbon impact of producing new nylon.
“When they get to us, this particular type of fishing nets have typically been used by Cornish fishers for around six months,” he says. “They are routinely swapped out because their surfaces become cloudy due to wear and the build up of an algal biofilm. With time and repeated use, eventually the fish can sense them in the water and avoid them.
“Skippers can see their catches fall as their nets age and it makes sense to replace them.”
Falconer sorts through bags of nets at his Newlyn headquarters. Photograph: OrCA
The nets that go into the shredder come out as small blue-green beads that Falconer sells to 3D printing companies, which convert them into strings of filament used in 3D printing. They also get sold around the world to replace new plastic in more conventional products that are made using injection moulding.
Falconer’s shipping container office is full of items made from the raw material: sunglasses, light shades, bottle openers, razor blade handles. It can be used for just about anything. The items he is most proud of are those made from his nylon mixed with waste carbon fibre – mostly from offcuts of car and aeroplane manufacturing. This stronger and more expensive product is used to make parts for racing bikes and super-light sunglasses, and industrial components such as electronic enclosures.
Small blue-green beads are produced by shredding old nets. These are then converted into strings of filament used in 3D printing. Photograph: OrCA
The carbon and nylon mix sells for up to £35,000 a tonne – more than the £12,000 a tonne pure nylon beads. “Our process turns a liability of about £500 a tonne to pay to get someone to take the nets away, not to mention the environmental cost of that, into something of real value,” Falconer says. “Now, when I pass the piles of fishing nets on the harbourside, I see piles of money.”
Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear poses one of the most serious threats to marine life, says Rachel Coppock, marine ecologist at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, adding that innovative ideas to reduce this are welcome.
“Recycling schemes are increasingly seen as viable and beneficial in demonstrating how old gear can be transformed into new products, reducing landfill waste and supporting a circular economy,” she says. “Though challenges remain in scaling these efforts due to material complexity and infrastructure gaps.”
Falconer’s roster of clients, which includes Philips lighting, L’Oréal, Ford and Mercedes-Benz, is increasing as more companies see OrCA’s potential to help them reduce their carbon footprint by increasing the proportion of their products made from recycled materials.
“The European Union wants automakers to use at least 20% recycled plastic by 2035,” he says. “Using ours is one of the easiest ways to do it.”
Falconer could make a nice living continuing to recycle Newlyn fishers’ nets, but he has wider ambitions. “Waste fishing nets are a problem here in Cornwall, but the same type of nets are a much bigger problem in other countries, especially those without established waste systems,” he says. “Around Africa, South and Central America and Asia you see these nets littering beaches.”
Many of those countries don’t have the equipment to recycle the nets, he says, so they are burned or just left as waste. “They even end up back in the water where they can damage coral reefs and harm marine life, including the fisheries that the local communities rely on for food.”
A shaving set that has been 3D printed from recycled fishing nets. Photograph: OrCA
About 150,000 tonnes of nylon monofilament fishing nets are made every year, and, based on external reports, Falconer estimates production will soon rise to 200,000 tonnes. The world’s total traditional nylon recycling capacity is less than 150,000 tonnes a year, so less than half the capacity that European carmakers need to meet their targets, and almost all of that is taken up with recycling carpets and other textiles.
To try to combat the problem, Falconer plans on exporting his recycling solution to any harbour that wants it. A container with all the equipment needed to run a mini recycling plant would cost about $500,000 (£370,000) if built in the UK.
Falconer says he has already received inquiries from 14 countries including Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, South Africa and Vietnam.
“The beauty of it is that it all fits in a shipping container and pretty much anyone can operate it,” he says. “So you could have one of these at every harbour around the world, converting a costly and hazardous waste into a profitable raw material.”
YouTube users reported problems streaming content and accessing the app for about 60 minutes before the company resolved the issue.
Published On 16 Oct 202516 Oct 2025
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YouTube says it has resolved problems with its website and app after hundreds of thousands of users worldwide self-reported issues with its streaming services.
“This issue has been fixed – you should now be able to play videos on YouTube, YouTube Music, and YouTube TV!” YouTube wrote on X on Thursday morning in Asia.
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YouTube did not disclose why users reported problems streaming videos for about 60 minutes on Thursday morning, or the global extent of the problem.
Disruptions began just before 7am in East Asia (23:00 GMT, Wednesday) for YouTube, YouTube Music and YouTube TV, according to Downdetector, a website that aggregates website disruptions in real time.
Users from Asia to Europe and North America soon reported problems streaming, accessing the website, and using the apps of YouTube and its affiliates, though error reports were most heavily concentrated in the US, according to Downdetector’s user-generated error map.
Major disruptions were also reported in Japan, Brazil and the United Kingdom, although the extent of the problem is unknown because Downdetector data is based on user-submitted reports and social media.
The number of error reports peaked at 393,038 reports in the US at 7:57am (23:57 GMT) before falling off sharply, according to Downdetector data.
Downdetector reported a smaller number of disruptions for YouTube Music and YouTube TV, which both peaked at fewer than 5,000 error reports in the US over the same period of time.
BBC
George Brown
