Business Daily

Exeter Chiefs may find themselves in unchartered waters when it comes to the Aviva Premiership play-offs, but head coach Rob Baxter wants his team to make the most of the opportunity afforded to them this weekend. Having finished the scheduled English season in second spot, accruing 15 wins from 22 games, the Chiefs have home advantage for tomorrow’s visit of Wasps to a packed out Sandy Park (3:15pm). It will mark the fourth meeting of the season between the two clubs, but it’s arguably the biggest yet with the prize on offer a trip to Twickenham a week later in the showpiece event of the...

Sexual conflict between males and females can lead to changes in the shape of their genitals, according to research on burying beetles by scientists at the University of Exeter.

The study, published today in the journal Evolution, provides new evidence that conflict over how often mating takes place can lead to males evolving longer penis-like organs and females larger ‘claws’ on their genitalia, within ten generations.

Genital shape varies enormously across the animal kingdom compared, for instance, to body shape. One reason for this may be that the shapes of male and...

Beef farming and Devon’s beef industry could be under threat if the UK left the European Union, Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss warned today.

93 per cent of all our beef exports went to the EU in 2015 and so beef farmers could lose millions of pounds of business if they lost access to the vital EU single market.

From steak frites to boeuf bourguignon, hamburgers to hachée, high-quality British beef is used in classic dishes across Europe, with 92,000 tonnes, worth £320million, heading to our EU neighbours last year. Devon plays a central role in this with the region’s...

Seven outstanding Devon farming businesses are celebrating tonight (Wednesday May 18) after picking up the top prizes in the 2016 Devon Farm Business Awards, organised by a partnership of the Devon County Agricultural Association, the Addington Fund and Stephens Scown.

The awards were presented at a dinner and awards ceremony held at Westpoint, home of the Devon County Show, attended by EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Phil Hogan.

Devon’s Farmer of the Year for 2016 and also Best Dairy Farmer is 52 year old Gordon Davis of Westcott Farm, Westleigh, near...