Farmers and farming businesses could be affected by new data protection regulations which come into force on 25 May 2018.

Any individual or business which holds personal data, ie names, addresses, email addresses, mobile phone numbers, etc, will need to ensure their systems for handling these are up to date with the new law.

Farmers employing staff and keeping payroll records, for example, will need to ensure they keep their details securely, locking up paper records or installing computer firewalls and anti-virus software.

All the necessary information is available from the Information Commission at www.ico.org.uk