Farming Today
932 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 51 ratingsThe latest news about food, farming and the countryside
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Episodes
13/07/24 Farming Today This Week: The new Defra Secretary, Great Yorkshire Show, new planning rules in rural areas
July 13, 2024 06:00 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBThe Great Yorkshire Show was the first chance for the new Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed, to chat with farmers since his appointment, less than a week before. The new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has committed to relaxing planning rules for house building. It could mean quite a change for rural areas; especially as the boundaries of greenbelt land will be 'reviewed'. The Welsh Government has just published its response to the consultation on its contro...
12/07/2024: Welsh farm payments, Michael Mosley a tribute, Lab-grown meat, AI in ecosystems
July 12, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBThere is a response from farmers to the Welsh government consultation with its farmers on the replacement for EU funding which previously caused mass protests. A personal tribute to the late broadcaster and doctor Michael Mosley known on Radio 4 for his series Just One Thing, which was aimed to improve our health, and wellbeing. A preview of Radio 4's Rare Earth programme which looks at the issues surrounding growing meat in a laboratory. And how Artifical Intelligence can help farmers g...
11/07/24 - The Great Yorkshire Show
July 11, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.8 MBThe 165th Great Yorkshire Show takes place this week just outside Harrogate. There are 35,000 people due to attend on each day and 8,500 livestock entries taking to the show rings. Anna Hill meets some of the people showing their pigs, learns about different breeds of pigeon and attends the Battle of the Butchers. She also meets the new DEFRA Secretary, Steve Reed - whose attending the show on his first outing since taking on the job. Presented by Anna Hill Produced for BBC Audio in Bristo...
10/07/2024: Great Yorkshire Show; Coughing pigs; AI weather forecasting
July 10, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MBFarmers at the 165th Great Yorkshire Show say what they are hoping to come from the new Labour government. The dream of farmers is to be able to accurately predict the weather, now a group of scientists are pitching in to help with AI – Artificial Intelligence. AI is also assisting on a pig farm, helping the farmer to predict if any of his animals are developing a disease. Presented by Anna Hill Produced by Alun Beach
09/07/2024: New farming minister; Rural housing; Robots
July 09, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBThe new Chancellor Rachel Reeves has committed to relaxing planning rules for housebuilding, a representative of various rural groups gives her response. Corinne Pluchino is the new Chief Executive of Action with Communities in Rural England - ACRE - a national charity representing 38 county based organisations across England. The new Secretary of State for the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs is Steve Reed, he had been serving as the Shadow at DEFRA for several years. He...
08/07/24 Artificial intelligence for agri market research, Lakenheath Fen, vertical salad farm
July 08, 2024 05:00 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBFrom interpreting pigs coughs to detect disease to analysing biodiversity data; all this week we’re going to be talking about artificial intelligence and its use in agriculture. Today, how AI is being used to sift out inaccurate agricultural market research. A year ago the RSPB started turning land that was once arable fields, next to its site at Lakenheath Fen in Suffolk, into a wetland habitat. The hope being that they’d see many species of rare wildlife return, and it’s working. It’s giv...
06/07/24 - Farming Today This Week: Election analysis, soft fruit farming and bee breeding
July 06, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MBLabour have won the General Election - so what does it mean for food, farming and the environment across the UK? We visit a soft fruit farm where flexible solar panels are being draped over the polytunnels to produce both electricity and strawberries from the same land. And most beekeepers sell honey - but we visit a pair who also sell queen bees, which they send to customers through the post. Presented by Helen Mark Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
04/07/24 University investment, farmer comedian, blueberries
July 05, 2024 07:08 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBReading University has bought £16m worth of farmland to improve its research into food and farming. The 635-acre site at Tanners Farm, Farley, includes pasture, arable land and woodland and is an addition to the farmland and facilities the university already owns. The university's vice-chancellor said the purchase would help secure the future of agriculture at Reading for the next century to come. As more people flock to the countryside, paths are becoming eroded. Add to that the wet weat...
03/07/2024 - Creamery closure, bee numbers, wildflowers, Scottish raspberries
July 03, 2024 11:31 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBA creamery which has been producing Stilton since 1780 is due to close its doors with the loss of 60 jobs. Tuxford and Tebbutt in Melton Mowbray is owned by the farmer co-operative Arla, which has been trying to sell the creamery as a going concern. They've blamed the closure on what they say is a decline in the speciality cheese market. Dairy industry analyst Chris Walkland explains what's happened. There's been some debate about whether this wet spring has had an effect on the bee popu...
02/07/24 - Danish methane tax, Electric Berries and rural/urban voting habits
July 02, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBDanish farmers are facing a tax on methane from cattle, pigs and slurry. The charges will be based on how many animals a farmer has, and what sort of farming system they use. There will be money available for farmers to introduce technical solutions, such as covering up slurry storage, to reduce emissions. We visit a soft fruit farm in Kent which is part of a trial to generate electricity by draping lightweight, flexible solar panels over some polytunnels. And a study by researchers at the...
01/07/2024 Fishing industry's election wish list; Breeding bees; Soft fruits
July 01, 2024 05:00 - 12 minutes - 11 MB"Fishing is about food - it's not a conservation problem, or heritage activity, or a hobby" the words of the fishing industry to politicians as we enter the final few days of campaigning before the general election. The National Federation of Fisherman's Organisations is calling for an incoming government to develop a national fishing strategy. Now most beekeepers sell honey - unless they eat it all of course - but few also sell bees. We speak to a pair of commercial bee keepers who prod...
29/06/2024 - Farming Today This Week: Election Special
June 29, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MBCharlotte Smith hosts an "election special" looking at rural manifesto promises - she explores what's on offer on food, farming, the environment and rural services. She's joined by rural correspondents from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
28/06/2024 Election manifestos; Flower farming; Hemlock
June 28, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MBAll week we've been looking at party manifestos and politicians' pledges on food and farming. We've head from the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats - today we round up what the other parties are offering the countryside. We meet a family of flower growers in Cornwall who've been farming in the Tamar Valley for half a century. Barry Richards built his first glasshouses in the 1970s before the flower market became dominated by imports which pushed many British flower growers ou...
27/06/24 Lib Dem's Manifesto, Groundswell regenerative farming, Sark considers Sunday tractors
June 27, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBAll this week we're hearing from the main political parties on what they're offering farmers and rural communities this election. Today it's the turn of the Liberal Democrats who say they'll put an extra £1 billion a year into the agriculture budget. When the Groundswell show started eight years ago it was a small event for the then rather niche 'regenerative farming'. This year's show still held on the Cherry family farm in Hertfordshire expects thousands of visitors to discuss, debate a...
26/06/24 - Labour's Manifesto, regen farming and high yielding wheat
June 26, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBA "New Deal for Farming" including better trade deals and more public procurement of home grown food - we hear what's in the Labour Party manifesto on farming, the environment and rural communities. It's part of a series of political interviews with the main parties that will run on the programme across the week. Groundswell is the biggest UK event for "regenerative farming" - and around eight thousand people are expected to attend this week's show. But some farmers worry that switching to ...
25/06/24 - Conservative manifesto, venison in school and dormice reintroductions
June 25, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBAn extra billion pounds across the next Parliament for farming and legally binding targets on food production - we hear what's in the Conservative Party manifesto on farming, the environment and rural communities. It's part of a series of political interviews with the main parties that will run on the programme across the week. Learning about food and its link to farming can be a challenge in the classroom - but what better way than to actually farm your school dinners? We visit Maple Hayes...
22/06/24 - The Royal Highland Show, UK salads and heritage wheat
June 22, 2024 05:00 - 25 minutes - 23 MBThe 240th Royal Highland Show is taking place just outside Edinburgh, and more than 200,000 people expected to attend over the 4 days of the show. We hear from some of the breeders showing cattle at the show. In 2022, the UK grew 162,000 tonnes of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers and celery - worth more than 200 million pounds. This time of year is normally peak salad season, but the months of rain and below average temperatures have been bad news for the country's salad growers....
21/06/24 The Royal Highland Show
June 21, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MBCharlotte Smith visits the Royal Highland Show for its 240th year to talk cattle, politics and farmers' health. Produced by Beatrice Fenton.
19/06/24 - Re-doing the Green Revolution, the Landworkers' Alliance manifesto and horticulture training
June 19, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBCould the plant breeding achievements of the Green Revolution be started again from scratch? That's the hope of scientists at the John Innes Centre, who say modern commercial varieties of wheat used by farmers could be replaced with better ones, using wheat lines collected a century ago. Back in the 1920s, an enterprising plant scientist named Arthur Earnest Watkins sent out letters to other Brits around the world, asking them to collect locally grown wheat, hoping the traits in those local ...
18/06/24 - Contaminated salad leaves, UK grown tomatoes and Soil Association election manifesto
June 18, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBA recent E-coli outbreak is thought to have been caused by contaminated salad leaves. There have been over 200 confirmed cases of food poisoning across the UK caused by e-coli bacteria found in manure, with nearly half those affected admitted to hospital. So how does the bacteria get into the salad, and what are farmers doing to prevent it? As part of our week looking at salads, we visit Evesham Vale Growers in Worcestershire, where they grow 500 acres of spring onions outside and some 70 a...
17/06/24 Salad sales down, farming in the party manifestos, dung beetle conference
June 17, 2024 05:00 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MBWith the rain continuing and below average temperatures, the outlook isn't so sunny for UK salad growers. We look at some of the detail in the main parties' manifestos to see what they're promising on issues like the agriculture budget, food security and England's badger cull. Sometimes described as a farmer's best friend, dung beetles consume, bury and break up dung, improving soils as they go. Earlier this month vets and farmers met at a conference in Somerset devoted to the dung beetl...
15/06/24 - Reproductive ethics in livestock, dog DNA and seed breeding
June 15, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes - 23 MBThree UK vet practices are now offering IVF for cows. It's a common practise for dairy cows to be made pregnant using artificial insemination, but IVF is more specialist. It allows for multiple embryos to be produced from one particularly good cow, meaning the genetics of a herd can be improved more quickly and its health and productivity improved. But it means hormonal treatments and some invasive procedures for the cow - so is it ethical? In a world first, methane from slurry on a farm in...
14/06/24 IVF in dairy cows, CLA election manifesto, flooding, Kate Humble at the Hay Festival
June 14, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBThe vets using IVF to improve dairy herds, and could a new 2-stage planning system help kickstart the rural economy? We hear from the CLA on what it wants from the next government. In a special episode of On Your Farm recorded at the Hay Festival, Kate Humble explains how she accidentally ended up buying a council farm in the beautiful Wye Valley in Wales. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
13/06/24 Farm vets and the strain of TB; Wildlife Trusts election wish list; Dog DNA
June 13, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBWe’re talking about vets all this week and one of the most difficult and unpleasant jobs they face is dealing with serious illness and disease in livestock, like the devastating foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. Breaking the painful news to a farmer that their whole livelihood is under threat is something no one wants on their job description. The threat of bovine TB can take a heavy toll on the mental wellbeing of both farmers and vets. We meet a dairy farmer in Derbyshire who's lived under...
12/06/24 - Cereals 2024, the arable event
June 12, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBPost-Brexit trade barriers are leaving the UK behind when it comes to introducing new varieties of crops - according to the British Society of Plant Breeders. Anna Hill reports from the arable event, Cereals 2024, where seed breeding is centre stage. After one of the wettest years on record left many farmers have been struggling to get out into the fields to plant or spray crops...but new drone technology could help - making it possible to spray on land that's still too soft to put heavy ma...
11/06/24 - Graphene from slurry, bluetongue and vet recruitment
June 11, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBIn a world first, methane from slurry on a dairy farm in Somerset is being broken down and turned into hydrogen gas and graphene. The farm involved is Worthy Farm, which hosts the Glastonbury Festival. It already has an anaerobic digester which uses slurry from their dairy cows to make methane which is used to make electricity, and now also used to make graphene. We find out how it all works. Last year tens of thousands of sheep in the Netherlands died after contracting bluetongue - a virus...
10/06/24 Calls for a bigger farming budget, closure of another Cornish fish market, farm vets.
June 10, 2024 05:00 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBFarmers need more money - so says the National Farmers' Union which says the incoming Government should increase the agriculture budget. Over the next few weeks as well as hearing from politicians about what they propose for farming, the environment and rural communities, we're also going to hear from rural and wildlife groups about what they think incoming MPs should be focusing on. Starting with the NFU which launched its manifesto at the end of last year. Fishermen in Looe say the clos...
08/06/24 - Farming Today This Week: UK pollinators, bark beetle and NI water pollution
June 08, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes - 23 MBSpruce trees may not be viable in the UK in the long term because of a pest which is now in the country. Restrictions on spruce trees have been extended after spruce bark beetles were found in East Anglia. The beetle was first found the the UK in 2018 and areas of the South East of England have been under restriction - that has now been extended to cover much of Norfolk and Suffolk. In the longer term, foresters may have to look for alternatives to Spruce. A chicken producer in Northern Ire...
07/06/24 Beetle threatening forestry, Northern Irish farmers and the election, moths, post-Brexit pesticide regulation
June 07, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBSpruce trees may not be viable in the UK in the long term because of a pest which is now in the country. Restrictions on spruce trees have been extended after spruce bark beetles were found in East Anglia. This week, we've been hearing from BBC correspondents in the nations about what farmers want from politicians. Today, we hear from Northern Ireland. A study by the University of Sussex found that moths are even more efficient pollinators than bees. So are these nighttime creatures being ...
06/06/24 - Illegal meat, fruit pollinators and Welsh election wishes
June 06, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBThe UK is vulnerable to animal diseases because of the ongoing trade in illegal meat, according to the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. The CIEH says that a lack of proper inspections at UK borders makes it easy for criminals to bring meat in. We visit a couple of fruit farms in Herefordshire to find out how they encourage the insects that pollinate their crops. And although agriculture is devolved, so farm policy in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland won't be decided by the ...
05/06/24 Lough Neagh pollution; Wild fires; Farming and the general election; Bees and oil seed rape.
June 05, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBThe agri-food company Moy Park, which supplies chickens throughout the UK and Europe, has breached environmental laws on more than 500 occasions without facing prosecution. A BBC Spotlight investigation into water pollution uncovered the breaches at three different sites in Northern Ireland - including Lough Neagh. Holidaymakers and walkers in Scotland are being warned not to light camp fires. Last year, a wild-fire tore through forestry at Cannich, south of Inverness. It burned for two wee...
04/06/24 - Monitoring pollinators, Oatly factory and farm saunas
June 04, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBThe UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme has been running for over 6 years now, with thousands of people counting insects in gardens, parks and on farms. So how are our pollinators faring? We visit a network of connected land in Ayrshire, designed to encourage pollinators. The network is being expanded after receiving funding from the Scottish Government. It was set up over the last decade or so, and includes farmland, council land and some unexpected leisure areas. And according to a recent st...
03/06/2024: Pollinators; Election; Service to Farming Award
June 03, 2024 05:00 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBA selection of farmers outline what they would want from the next government. Bees may be the best known of the UK’s pollinators, but there are many more insects involved in the process which is vital to our food production. And farmers celebrating decades of hard work are recognised with a long-service award. Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Alun Beach
31/05/2024: Beavers and flooding, Bees, Second Homes
May 31, 2024 15:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBHouse prices in the Lake District are likely to fall because of plans to control the number of homes being turned into holiday lets, according to the most senior planning officer at the national park authority. This is already being done in Wales where it has been causing a lot of controversy. A ten year study of beavers in Devon shows that they are having a positive impact on flood and drought alleviation – according to researchers at Exeter University who have been following the beavers ...
30/05/2024: Dairy, National Parks, Worms
May 31, 2024 14:49 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBA Welsh cheesemaker which described itself as innovative and with the highest sustainability standards has announced it cannot continue in its current form. The 321 farmers who supply milk to Mona dairy on Anglesey have been reassured that an interim buyer for their milk has been found, while the dairy's owners search for new investment. The Campaign for National Parks and the Alliance for Welsh Designated Landscapes has produced a 10-point National Parks Action plan for the new Welsh gov...
29/05/24 - A new National Park for Scotland, horned cattle and biofluorescence
May 29, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MBScotland is to get at least one new national park - due to be designated in 2026. Groups in Tay Forest, Loch Awe, Lochaber, Galloway, and the Borders have now submitted formal bids for the Scottish Government to consider...but not everyone’s keen on the idea. Farming traditional native breed cattle with horns, like Gloucester’s and Longhorns, is becoming increasingly difficult because abattoirs don’t have the facilities to deal with those horns. We hear from one farmer who says his herd of...
28/05/2024: National Parks and International Seed Banks
May 28, 2024 09:59 - 14 minutes - 13 MBEnvironmentalist Ben Goldsmith blames sheep grazing for turning the UKs National Parks into ‘dead zones’. Neil Heseltine the chair of National Parks England responds, and explains what role he sees for these institutions. One of the two scientists who was instrumental in creating a back-up vault of the world’s crop seeds to protect global food security, explain how it works. Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Alun Beach
27/05/24 The D-Day farms
May 27, 2024 05:00 - 12 minutes - 11 MBTo mark the 80th anniversary of Vernon Harwood tells the story of Britain's D-Day farms. As dawn broke on the morning of the 6th June 1944 thousands of Allied ships and landing craft carrying more than 150,000 troops approached the beaches of Normandy in Northern France as the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare got underway. Meanwhile the airborne assault involved more than 11,000 aircraft making it the single largest aerial operation ever seen. D-Day had arrived. Code-...
25/05/24 Farming Today This Week: The Chelsea Flower Show; what farmers want from a new government
May 25, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MBThis week as the Prime Minister sets the date for the General Election, we ask what farmers will be looking for. And as antidote to all the politics, we bring you flowers. All week we've been taking time to enjoy the blooms, inspired by the Chelsea Flower Show. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
24/05/2024: Farmers on the election, Mushroom farming, Growing flowers
May 24, 2024 11:38 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBFarmers from different parts of the industry say what they want from the next government. A woman who swapped a life in the luxury hospitality business in Jamaica for mushroom farming on Scotland’s west coast. And an arable farm which specialises in growing flowers for the British market. Presented by Caz Graham Produced by Alun Beach
23/05/24 General election and rural vote; Daffodils; New planning rules and land values.
May 23, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBThe date's been set for a general election. Some would argue all the main political parties have been wooing the farming and rural vote for months now, Rishi Sunak was the first PM in 16 years to appear at the NFU conference this spring, Labour’s promising a rural crime strategy and the Lib Dems say they’d put an extra billion pounds into farming budgets. According to the Rural Service Network 40% of constituencies are rural, and that rural vote will be a key battleground, especially in the...
22/05/24 - Farm labour, flower growers and live export ban
May 22, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBNew figures from the Office for National Statistics show a record number of people are not employed due to long term sickness. The Government's launching a new task force with the aim of getting people who are off work and on benefits, back on the payroll. The Prime Minister has suggested they could they be persuaded to get out into the fields to pick fruit and veg. The wet weather is impacting farmers across the country - and flower growers are being hit too. For many of those exhibiting t...
21/05/24 - Planning rules change, growing roses and no Spring flush
May 21, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBChanges to planning law will allow more freedom for farmers and landowners in England to convert unused buildings into new homes, or new businesses like farm shops. The relaxed rules make it possible to alter buildings to create up to 10 homes, without planning permission. In addition, the amount of floorspace that can be changed from agricultural to commercial use has been doubled. When you pick up a potted rose in a garden centre do you think about how long it's taken to get there? At Wha...
20/05/24 Illegal waste; Environmental benchmarking; Flower industry
May 20, 2024 05:00 - 12 minutes - 11 MBThere's an update on the saga of illegal waste dumping at a protected woodland in Kent. The BBC has learnt that the Government is planning an emergency intervention to clear thousands of tonnes of rubbish. Locals say that as many as 30 lorries a day were illegally dumping rubbish at Hoads Wood near Ashford at the height of the problem last year. The woodland is in an area of outstanding natural beauty and is site of special scientific interest . Now one conservation group describes the site...
18/05/24 - Farming Today This Week: Farm to Form Summit and the Balmoral Show
May 18, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes - 23 MBAnna Hill reports from the second Farm to Fork Summit held this week in Downing Street. To coincide with the event, the Government released it's Food Security Index - which looks at how much of the food we eat is produced here, but also takes into account other things, like fertiliser prices, global trade and biosecurity risks. The Prime Minister said he wants to expand UK fruit and veg production. Around 120,000 visitors and 4,000 head of livestock have been at the Balmoral Show in Northe...
17/05/24 The Balmoral Show
May 17, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBHelen Mark visits the Balmoral Show in Northern Ireland. In the week when the Northern Ireland Assembly has declared the country to be in an ecological and biodiversity crisis, Helen asks the new Minister for Agriculture, Andrew Muir, how he sees farming and the environment working together. Produced by Beatrice Fenton.
16/05/24 - Water company landscape plan, solar farm planning, horticulture strategy and rural tourism
May 16, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.8 MBFarmers are being asked to support South East Water with its new 25 year environment plan - launched this week - which includes creating a new super nature reserve. More than 80% of the area covered by the company across Sussex, Kent, Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire, is agricultural. The company is under investigation by OFWAT after it was revealed as the worst performer for supply interruptions last year, and some local farmers are not impressed by the new plan. Land use and the rules arou...
15/05/24 - The Farm to Fork Summit at 10 Downing Street
May 15, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBIn this special programme, Anna Hill reports from the second Farm to Fork Summit at 10 Downing Street. The Government says it wants to increase the amount of home grown fruit and veg - after figures released this week who only 17% of fruit and 55% of vegetables eaten in the UK, are produced here. More money will be released to help fruit and veg farmers invest in new equipment. As well as interviewing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, we hear from delegates who were invited to the summit about ...
14/05/24 - Farm to Fork Summit, Welsh holiday homes and a conservation dog
May 14, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBThe Government says it wants more home grown fruit and veg - after releasing figures that show only 17% of fruit and 55% of vegetables eaten in the UK, are produced here. It's releasing more funding to help fruit and veg farmers invest in new equipment. The announcement come as the Prime Minister hosts his second Farm to Fork Summit at 10 Downing Street. New rules in Wales mean holiday-let owners now have to rent their accommodation out for at least 182 days a year in order to qualify for ...
11/05/24 Farming Today This Week: Sandeels, funding for robotic pickers, crisis of confidence for farmers, European roadtrip.
May 13, 2024 14:41 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBFarmer confidence is at an all time low: that's according to a new survey published this week by the National Farmers' Union. It says the wet weather has had an impact, but farmers also point to worries about the future of their businesses. The Government’s announcement that the seasonal worker visa scheme is being extended for five years has been welcomed by farming organisations. It comes as part of Defra's response to an independent review into labour shortages in the Food Supply Chain ...