Farming Today

The Government's new Planning and Infrastructure Bill promises to bring about the 'biggest building boom' in a generation, delivering 1.5 million new homes, and developing green energy infrastructure across the countryside. The aim is to speed up planning decisions, but some landowners are worried the changes could mean a slew of compulsory purchase orders by public bodies - something that's being made easier in the bill.And we go out with an agricultural drone contractor, who is licensed and approved to fly a drone for spreading, spraying and seeding on farms.Presented by Anna Hill Produced by Heather Simons

A case of Foot and Mouth has been identified on a dairy farm in the North West of Hungary. Imports from Hungary and Slovakia of meat and other animal products have been banned, to try to prevent the disease spreading to the UK. A similar ban has been in place on products from Germany following cases there in January, but concerns have been raised that German animal products have still entered the UK since then. We ask if UK border controls are good enough to keep UK farmers safe.And the vast majority of farms use contractors - who often bring specialist knowledge, training, or kit. We visit JSE Systems Ltd near Grantham in Lincolnshire, which specialises in supplying, delivering and spreading fertilisers across much of the East Midlands.Presented by Anna Hill Produced by Heather Simons

A voluntary agreement to phase out lead shot isn't working - according to a study by researchers at the University of Cambridge. They bought pheasants from butchers, game dealers and supermarkets across Britain this year, and found that of the 171 found to contain shot, 99% contained lead. That's despite a voluntary agreement in 2020 whereby UK shooting organisations agreed to phase out the use of lead shot - which is toxic - and move to alternatives like steel shot by this year. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation says progress has been made.And around 9 out of 10 farming businesses use contractors. These are firms which offer seasonal or specialised services - from hedge cutting to manure spreading - or which even do all the farming on behalf of the landowner. We start a week long focus on agricultural contractors by asking how it works, and what contractors bring to farming.Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Heather Simons

The American President Donald Trump wants farmers in the US to produce more for the domestic market as the rows over import tariffs continue. So what might this all this mean for them, for us and for global trade? For This Natural Life, this week on on BBC Radio 4, Martha Kearney visited Sir James Dyson on his farm in Somerset to hear what the natural world means to him, and how that is being reflected in his approach to farming.Bird flu continues to hit poultry farms across the country. Last week we heard from Jerry Saunders, from Orchard Organic Farm in South Devon, about the emotional toll of having all 5000 of his birds culled after getting bird flu. We hear how the financial impact can be severe, too. Broadband speeds in rural areas are 26% slower than they are in urban areas - that’s according to the Government, and there are still parts of the country that have no mobile phone access at all. We speak to Chris Bryant, the minister with responsibility for digital inclusion, about the Government's Digital Inclusion Action Plan.New rules for the pig supply chain are due to be introduced this spring to help even up what Defra describes as a 'power imbalance' between farmers and processors.Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Broadband speeds in rural areas are 26% slower than they are in urban areas and there are still parts of the country that have no mobile phone access at all. That's according to the Government, which has recently launched it's new ‘Digital Inclusion Action Plan’ to try and change that picture. They’re also looking to improve the digital skills of the 7.3 million people who they say lack the minimum essential digital skills for work. We find out what it could mean for rural Britain.Our food supply chains can often have many steps - from farms and processors to wholesalers and retailers. Of course, everyone needs their cut, but farmers have long argued they deserve a bigger slice of the cake. We visit the SAOS conference - the umbrella organisation for all of Scotland's farm cooperatives - to ask how much difference forming co-ops can make.And for those farming on the Isle of Eigg, in the Inner Hebrides, making an income from rearing livestock is difficult. We visit a 2,500 acre tenant farm where they keep sheep and cattle, but where it's the bio-diversity schemes that bring in the income. Presented by Caz Graham Produced by Heather Simons

American farmers are being urged to produce more by their president. Mr Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on goods, including agricultural produce, from Canada and Mexico, and both countries are imposing retaliatory tariffs on American goods. As is China, which is the biggest market for US agriculture products. So what might this all this mean for them, for us and for global trade? For This Natural Life on BBC Radio 4, Martha Kearney visits Sir James Dyson on his farm in Somerset to hear what the natural world means to him, and how that is being reflected in his approach to farming.Continuing our topic this week: supply chains, the many hands food goes through on its way from farm to fork. Controlling what happens at every stage can be a challenge, but that's what one Welsh producer is trying to do so they can make the supply chain more sustainable. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

New rules for the pig supply chain are due to be introduced this Spring to help even-up what DEFRA describes as a 'power imbalance' between farmers and processors. The rules have been developed after a crisis in the industry caused by a combination of Brexit and Covid - when back in 2021, a shortage of staff at processing sites left farmers unable to send their pigs for slaughter, despite having contracts in place. So how much difference will it make?We find out about a project called FruitWatch, being run by the University of Reading, which monitors blossom emergence and fruit using pictures and comments sent in by members of the public.And we visit Fallowlees Farm - a charity farm set up after the Covid lockdowns to give women in Newcastle the chance to experience rural Northumberland. Presented by Anna Hill Produced by Heather Simons

Bird flu continues to hit poultry farms across the country with 49 cases in England, 2 in Northern Ireland and 1 in Scotland. We hear from one farmer about the hidden cost of having an outbreak - from £10,000 worth of wasted eggs to the loss of the next 2 years of business.We visit a distribution centre for the AGPO growers’ co-operative based in Kent, where apples and pears are delivered daily from nearby nitrogen cold storage facilities before being sent on to supermarkets.And a trial at the University of Nottingham on dairy cattle has suggested that removing soya completely and using alternatives, can actually lead to an increase in milk production. Presented by Anna Hill Produced by Heather Simons

The Tenant Farmers Association says the Government's decision to allow a solar project on farmland in Yorkshire is 'crushing' for farmers who rent land. Harmony Energy can now build a solar farm with battery storage on land owned by the Fitzwilliam Trust near Malton. The tenant farmers who currently farm there have campaigned for the past four years to halt the project.Fishing is facing a shortage of workers – fewer people are coming from the European Union to work, and many older fishermen who retire aren't being replaced. At South Devon College they’re hoping to attract new recruits to the industry - we go to event in collaboration with the charity the Fishermen’s Mission, where the older generation of fishermen met those just starting out or considering a career at sea. And we hear from the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator. Farmers have long had concerns about the way supply chains work, saying they shoulder too much of the risk, and don't reap enough of the rewards. To help, an Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator has been appointed - in the first instance to enforce new rules aimed at improving transparency and fairness in the dairy sector. Similar regulations to cover pigs are expected this spring and then the plan is to look at eggs and fresh produce.Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Heather Simons

The re-introduction of inheritance tax on farm assets dominated this year's National Farmers Union Conference in London. The Union President told delegates farming is facing its biggest crisis of confidence in his lifetime. Facing a frosty reception, the DEFRA Secretary Steve Reed announced a new Farm Profitability Unit to be set up with the department, but told farmers he couldn't give them the answers they wanted on inheritance tax. Elsewhere, the conference focused on growth in agriculture - through investment, exports and tech. The Climate Change Committee has called for a transformation in agriculture in its latest report. The CCC advises the UK government on ways to reduce emissions in order to meet net zero by 2050. Its 7th report sets out a plan from 2038 to 2042, and recommends a 27% drop in the number of cattle and sheep, and that we all eat less meat.The government's allowing the re-introduction of beavers into the wild in England. Up until now they've only been allowed to be released into enclosures - though there have also been some illegal releases. Wildlife groups will need a licence and to get that they'll need a 10 year plan showing the impact beavers are expected to have. The National Farmers Union has argued that farmers should be able to kill beavers should they end up in the wrong place. Scientists at Scotland's Rural College have been feeding cattle an extract from daffodil bulbs to help reduce methane. The ground-breaking research aimed at reducing emissions is called "dancing with daffodils".We round off with a bit of tradition and competition. The European Ploughing Championships are being held in Nottinghamshire we catch up with a ploughing champion who's one of the organisers

The DEFRA Secretary told Farming Today the Government will be looking into ways to prevent cheap imports of crops grown in countries which allow the use of chemicals that aren’t authorised for use in the UK. But how easy will that be? We ask a trade expert.There’s been a flying trade for beef and sheep this spring. The price for what’s called ‘dead weight’ cattle is at its highest ever according to the ADHD, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, and they say sheep prices are historically high too. So what’s behind these high prices? Are they likely to last? And will we be paying more for meat in the shops?And we visit a bulb business on a smallholding in Wales where, for almost 40 years, they’ve been sourcing and supplying a wide range of bulbs, both native to the British Isles, and from different parts of the world.Presented by Caz Graham Produced by Heather Simons

The Climate Change Committee has called for a transformation in agriculture in its latest report. The CCC advises the UK government on ways to reduce emissions in order to meet net zero by 2050. Its 7th report sets out a plan from 2038 to 2042, and recommends a 27% drop in the number of cattle and sheep, and that we all eat less meat. It wants to see more woodlands, more peatlands re-wetted and more energy crops like miscanthus. Scientists at Scotland's Rural College have been feeding cattle an extract from daffodil bulbs to help reduce methane. The ground-breaking research aimed at reducing emissions is called "dancing with daffodils".Fly tipping is on the up - the latest Environment Agency figures for England show more than a million incidents of rubbish being dumped on public land last year, up 6% from the year before. Those stats don't include fly tipping on farms, and the Country Land and Business Association says in its latest survey, 90 per cent of respondents reported having rubbish - from fridges to tyres - dumped on their land in the past year. Rural groups and councils are calling for tougher penalties for fly tippers.Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

The re-introduction of inheritance tax on farm assets dominated this year's National Farmers Union Conference in London. The Union President told delegates farming is facing it's biggest crisis of confidence in his lifetime. Facing a frosty reception, the DEFRA Secretary Steve Reed announced a new Farm Profitability Unit to be set up with the department, but told farmers he couldn't give them the answers they wanted on inheritance tax.Elsewhere, the conference focused on growth in agriculture - through investment, exports and tech. We hear how the latest scientific innovations could help farmers in the future.Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Heather Simons

As farmers know, not all fields are equal, and in England and Wales the Agricultural Land Classification system is used to define how productive farmland is. The best land has more protection from development in the planning system. But according to a report commissioned by the CPRE - the countryside charity - that classification system in England, is based on data from as long ago as the 1940s...so it's somewhat out of date.There’s only one farm left in the UK that still grows its tulip bulbs outdoors - PS and J Ward, near Kings Lynn. Anna Hill visits the farm to see the process: after the tulips have flowered in the field, the bulbs are harvested and stored, then they’re brought into glasshouses, where they produce the flowers we buy in the shops. And we dive straight into the future, to see a crop of parsnips, sown, grown and harvested - by robots.Presented by Anna Hill Produced by Heather Simons

Bird flu is continuing its spread, with an ever growing list of English counties - and the whole of Northern Ireland – now under restrictions which mean all poultry has to be kept indoors. And stricter bio-security measures have been imposed across the whole of the UK.We hear from a farmer in Devon who has had to cull his birds because of a disease outbreak. And the chair of virology at Edinburgh University’s Roslin Institute, Professor Paul Digard, discusses the avian flu vaccine situation in the UK and elsewhere.Our theme this week is bulbs - Spring isn't far away! We're with daffodil pickers near Truro in Cornwall.Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Sarah Swadling Farming Today is a BBC Audio Bristol production

The majority of the UK's peatlands could be at risk of drying out in the next 40-50 years because of climate change - according to a new study from scientists at the Universities of Exeter, Manchester and Derby. Healthy, wet peatlands are seen as part of the solution to climate change because they soak up planet-heating carbon dioxide - UK peatlands currently store an estimated 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon. But where they dry out, they become a problem because they can then release that stored carbon back into the atmosphere.MPs have been debating calls to ban bottom trawling in some parts of the sea. Bottom trawling is a method of fishing where weighted nets are dragged along the seabed to gather things like scallops, sole and plaice. According to The Marine Conservation Society, bottom trawling is currently forbidden across 5% of the UK's MPAs, and a wider ban in ALL protected areas is something conservation charities have been calling for, for some time. But is it the right move?And farming leaders have said they left a much-anticipated meeting with the Treasury this week with their blood "boiling", claiming the Government has "shut the door" on any rethink of planned changes to inheritance tax on farms. Representatives from agricultural organisations met the Exchequer Secretary, James Murray, and Farming Minister, Daniel Zeichner, on Tuesday. It follows months of protests over plans for inherited agricultural assets worth more than a million pounds to be taxed at 20% from April next year.Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Heather Simons

Solar farms managed for nature can benefit birds more than intensively farmed arable land. Research by the RSPB and the University of Cambridge looked at two types of solar farms in the East Anglian Fens. Those with mixed habitats - with hedgerows, no grass cutting or grazing sheep had a greater number and diversity of flowering plants and birds than intensively farmed arable land, or solar farms which were intensively managed.As England consults on its new land use framework we find out how Scotland's land use strategy's been working. It was first published in 2011 and is updated every five years. We speak to a policy manager at NFU Scotland to find out how it's affected farmers and crofters on the ground.Regenerative agriculture or regen ag, is something that's discussed a lot, and it's a term creeping into the marketing jargon of food businesses - so what exactly is meant by it? Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

England's Land Use Framework is out to consultation. We speak to the academic who brought groups of farmers together to speak to Defra officials as they developed the policy. We also consider what impact the framework might have on big renewable projects in future - like one in East Anglia. The proposed solar development in East Pye in South Norfolk covers 2,700 acres in ten different locations, Local residents who object to the scheme have set up their own group called Block East Pye. They say they are not Nimbys but that the current plans will directly impinge on residents and wildlife. Food prices are up and driving inflation. The Consumer Price Index or CPI is up 3% in the year to January. However some basics have gone up by more: butter up by 18%, eggs by 4% and beef up 5%. What does this mean for farmers, who often tell us that they’re not being paid enough for the food they produce? We ask an expert from the Royal Agricultural University whether price rises mean more money for farmers.Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Farming leaders have said they left a much-anticipated meeting with the Treasury with their blood "boiling", claiming the Government has "shut the door" on any rethink of planned changes to inheritance tax on farms. It follows months of protests over plans for inherited agricultural assets worth more than a million pounds to be taxed at 20% from April next year.MPs have been debating calls to ban bottom trawling in England's Marine Protected Areas. Bottom trawling is a method of fishing where weighted nets are dragged along the seabed to gather things like scallops, sole and plaice. And a working group has been set up by the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission to discuss how a Land Use Framework for Northern Ireland might be developed and implemented. We meet one of the group members to discuss how much difference it could make.Presented by Steffan Messenger Produced by Heather Simons

The majority of the UK's peatlands could be at risk of drying out in the next 40-50 years because of climate change - according to a new study from scientists at the Universities of Exeter, Manchester and Derby. Healthy, wet peatlands are seen as part of the solution to climate change because they soak up planet-heating carbon dioxide - UK peatlands currently store an estimated 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon. But where they dry out, they become a problem, because they can then release that stored carbon back into the atmosphere.There are a lot of things we want from the land of course - food production, green energy, housing, space for nature - and often these things are seen as being in competition with one another. We visit a farm where many different types of land use have been integrated so they can work hand in hand.And tree planting is something else that faces criticism for taking land out of food production. But in agroforestry systems, trees are planted alongside livestock or crops. We find out about a new tree species guide for UK Agroforestry Systems which has been produced by Forest Research and the University of Reading, to help farmers decide what to plant and where.Presented by Steffan Messenger Produced by Heather Simons