12/11/25 EFRA questions, pig farm planning permission, truffles, potatoes
Description
Eight weeks after taking up her post as DEFRA Secretary of State, Emma Reynolds has faced her first barrage of questions from the cross-party group of MPs at the EFRA select committee. Over two hours the MPs quizzed her about farming profitability, environmental payments, fishing policy, water pollution, border controls and illegal meat.
One of the UK's biggest meat producers, Cranswick has been refused retrospective planning permission for a site in Norfolk, housing 7000 sows. The buildings, which were put up four years ago, have attracted hundreds of complaints from local residents over their smell.
Even though most of us have seen quite a bit of rain over the last few weeks, some parts still need plenty more to top up the deficit from last summer's drought. That lack of water meant this year's potato harvest, which has just finished, was particularly difficult. We visit a grower in North Yorkshire to catch up on the season and see how incorporating organic matter into soil, retains moisture.
All week, we're talking about growing mushrooms. Truffle cultivation isn't usually associated with Scotland, but milder, wetter summers are providing new opportunities, according to one professor who's developing new methods of cultivating truffles.
Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
United States
