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
13/05/2024 - Food exports, rural tourism and new Welsh creamery
May 13, 2024 05:00 - 11 minutes - 11 MBWhen Britain left the European Union, the Government said food and drink exporters had a 'golden opportunity' to put British food at the 'top of the global menu'. But the reality is that UK food is still lagging behind its European counterparts, both in terms of sales and reputation. Tourism brings £14.5 billion into the rural economy every year - according to the Country Land and Business Association. But while visitors bring much needed cash they also create problems - from the pressure ...
10/05/2024 - Seasonal labour, Portuguese rice and growing wasabi
May 10, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBThe 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 which was published last summer. Also in that response is a commitment to "turbo-charge" investment in automation with an extra 50 million pounds of funding for new technology for automating pack houses and to improve robotic pickers. Jon Old...
09/05/24 - Regen ag, Iberico pork, OEP water report and tractor factory strike
May 09, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBThe boss of Waitrose has told Farming Today that the value of food needs reappraising and that in some cases higher prices should be considered. It comes as the supermarket announces that from 2035, it’s UK produced meat, milk, eggs and fruit and veg will come from farms that practice regenerative farming. There is no precise definition for regenerative agriculture, but it focuses on improving soil health by reducing or removing cultivation, growing cover crops to protect the soil and using ...
08/05/24 - Coast path, carbon sequestration and selling fruit direct
May 08, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBThe King Charles III England Coast Path was named to celebrate the coronation last year - and the plan was to make 2,700 miles of coastal path available to walkers. But, on the Isle of Wight, the Ramblers Association says some landowners won't allow access for the path, so it will have to detour away from the coast. One of those is the Osbourne House Estate - the former home of Queen Victoria, which was given to the nation in 1902. A bio-tech company has developed a new technique to enhance...
07/05/24 UK EU row over sandeels, farmers' collapse in confidence, Bordeaux wine growers in trouble
May 07, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBThe RSPB says it is "vital" that a UK ban on fishing for sandeels in the North Sea remains in place. The ban, which stops sandeel trawlers fishing in English and Scottish sections of the North Sea, came into effect in April following a long campaign by conservationists concerned about declining seabird populations, particularly puffins and kittiwakes. Fishermen in Denmark are supporting a challenge by the European Union to the UK ban, claiming they have lost half of their fishing grounds b...
06/05/24 Behind the scenes on the Wildland Estate where Scotland's largest landowner is making big changes.
May 06, 2024 05:00 - 11 minutes - 11 MBJust what happens when a foreign billionaire buys a vast tract of the Scottish Highlands and sets about changing it? Does Scotland’s biggest landowner Anders Holch Povlsen dictate everything that happens on his 80,000 acres of the Cairngorm National Park? Is he making money from it? Richard Baynes has been to the heart of Povlsen’s Wildland estate, talking to those charged with restoring nature on it and finding out how they work. Produced and presented by Richard Baynes.
04/05/24 - Farming Today This Week: Border checks, cider orchards and illegal waste dumping
May 04, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes - 23 MBNew physical checks have been brought in on some imports of food and plants from the EU. Products deemed high or medium risk now have to be inspected - including live animals, meat and some plant products. We report from a border control post to find out how it works. An investigation is under way following the large scale illegal dumping of waste at a site in Kent. Local residents describe a steady stream of lorries carrying waste being brought to the site. And the largest cider manufactu...
03/05/24 Latest badger cull figures, Jeremy Clarkson, sniffing onion disease
May 03, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBThe latest figures from Defra show nearly 20,000 badgers were killed across England last year, as part of the Government's policy to tackle TB in cattle. Badger campaigners say that the continued culling is leading to local extinctions. Defra says there are no easy answers, but badger culling "has proved highly effective and needs to remain a part of our holistic approach". Jeremy Clarkson says if he wanted to make money from his thousand acre Oxfordshire farm he'd put as much as possible ...
02/05/2024: Illegal waste dumping; NI veterinary medicines; Natural pesticides
May 02, 2024 09:12 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBAn investigation is under way into a case of large-scale illegal waste dumping in Kent. According to a House of Lords committee report, up to a third of veterinary medicines currently used in Northern Ireland could cease to be available to farmers when a grace period ends next year. A Natural Products BioHub has been launched at Swansea University, which will support researchers and businesses specialising in pesticides which control pests without the need for chemicals. Presented by Cha...
01/05/25 - Import border checks, local elections and blackgrass
May 01, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.8 MBNew physical checks have been brought in on some imports of food and plants from the EU. Products deemed high or medium risk now have to be inspected - including live animals, meat and some plant products. Inspections can be done either at Government run sites or at commercial facilities - we report from both to find out how it works. The major political parties are all competing for the rural vote ahead of the local elections. A combination of councillors, mayors and police and crime commi...
30/04/24 - Border checks, global disease monitoring and integrated pest management
April 30, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBNew border checks for imports of food and plants coming into the UK from the EU, start 30th April 2024. Some farming groups have been calling for these checks for some time - saying they will give producers here more of a level playing field with EU producers, because UK exports have had similar checks since Brexit. But some importers say inspection costs are prohibitive. We hear from the conference to celebrate the World Organisation for Animal Health's 100th anniversary, where avian flu i...
27/04/24 Farming Today This Week: illegal fishing, land mines on farmland in Ukraine, universal credits, trees and forestry
April 27, 2024 06:00 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBIllegal fishing on rivers and watercourses is on up according to the police, who are stepping up patrols with other agencies. Angling clubs pay thousands of pounds every year to stock rivers with fish for members and taking fish without permission is theft. Better training of police in poaching laws has led to a recent spate of convictions and a legal first for volunteer river bailiffs. MPs have highlighted the impact of changes in welfare payments on farmers. Farmers historically claime...
26/04/2024: Red Tractor, Tree nursery, Universal Credit, Isle of Luing cattle
April 26, 2024 10:11 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBThe National Sheep Association says it has no confidence in the Red Tractor assurance scheme's executive. MP's have highlighted the impact of the changes in welfare payments on farmers, who historically claim tax credits to boost low incomes. A tree nursery manages to combat the adverse weather conditions, and a breed of cattle found on a remote Scottish island Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Alun Beach
25/04/2024 Illegal fishing, housing estate flock, ash dieback
April 25, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBFishing is a very popular pastime. In England alone, the Environment Agency issued more than 900,000 fishing licenses between March 2022 and April 2023. But illegal fishing on rivers and watercourses is on the up, according to the police, who are stepping up patrols with other agencies. Angling clubs pay thousands of pounds every year to stock rivers with fish for members and taking fish without permission is theft. Better training of police in poaching laws has, however, led to a recent...
24/04/24 - Labour's Rural Crime Strategy, Scottish forestry grants and English deer management
April 24, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBThe Labour Party has launched a Rural Crime Strategy, saying crime is rising faster in rural than urban areas. Research commissioned by the party, and based on information from the House of Commons Library, shows rural crime has risen by a third since 2011, compared to a rise of 24% in urban areas. Labour says the new Strategy would include increasing rural police presence by 13 thousand community and neighbourhood staff. We hear from the Shadow Policing Minister. In February, we reported t...
23/04/24 - Land mines in Ukraine, trees on farmland and peatland re-wetting
April 23, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBAround 38 million acres of Ukrainian farmland has now been rendered too dangerous to farm by Russian mines. According to the charity the "Mines Advisory Group", there have been more than a thousand mine accidents in Ukraine since 2022 - with farmers making up one of the largest single groups of casualties. We hear from the man in charge of clearing land mines there. Farmers can be paid to integrate tree-planting into their farm management plans through Government schemes like Countryside St...
22/04/24 Public perception of commercial forestry, the state of UK woodlands, feral pigs in Scotland.
April 22, 2024 05:00 - 12 minutes - 11 MBToday trees: from Welsh Government plans to get them planted on farms, to the ever missed English planting targets and the recent cuts to the budget for planting in Scotland, trees are the subject of much debate in rural areas. Despite our fondness for them and need for timber, we still don't like commercial forestry. Foresters warn the public's perception is hampering efforts to grow more timber. We get an overview of the state of British woodlands. The Scottish Government wildlife agenc...
20/04/24 - New Welsh Rural Affairs Cabinet Secretary, unlawful game licences and dairy pollution
April 20, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes - 23 MBWales' new Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs says his first job it to listen to farmers. It comes after unrest and large protests in Wales by farmers, angry about the Welsh Government's approach to farming. In particular, the way its tacking TB in cattle, stricter rules on pollution and the Sustainable Farming Scheme, which will replace EU subsides in Wales and requires farmers to plant trees on 10% of their land. We put their concerns to Huw Irranca-Davies. The UK Gove...
19/04/24 River pollution from dairy farms, new border checks for food, pumpkin diversification
April 19, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBMost UK dairy farms are failing to meet environmental regulations aimed at protecting rivers from pollution; so says the campaign group River Action which has used freedom of information requests to find new data. It says dairy farms are one of the biggest causes of river pollution. The National Farmers' Union says farmers are getting better. Companies importing food to the UK say the Government's plans to bring in physical checks for food coming from the EU is going to lead to higher price...
18/04/24 Government admits it broke rules on gamebird releases, vegetable oil harvest down, worm diversification
April 18, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.8 MBThe Government has admitted that it unlawfully issued some licences for releasing game birds last year. The campaign group Wild Justice challenged the licences granted in the Deben Estuary in Suffolk and Breckland in Norfolk, saying that ministers had ignored the advice from the wildlife regulator Natural England, and that a proper assessment of the impact hadn't been carried out. By law under the Habitats Directive there must be an assessment of the impact of any release near Special Prote...
17/04/24 - Wet weather food impacts, farm microbrewery, tenant farmers and seabird dawn chorus
April 17, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBA total wipe-out of crops is now a possibility for some farms - it follows the record rainfall over recent months. Crops on thousands of acres of highly productive land have been destroyed and even now fields are too boggy for machinery to harvest or plant crops for the months ahead. So what impact will this have on our fresh produce supply chains? Tenant farmers "can't be left to go by the wayside" - that's the message from the NFU Tenant Farmer Conference. English farmers who rent some - ...
16/04/2024 - New Welsh rural affairs cabinet secretary, River Wye pollution and farm diversification
April 16, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBAfter farmers held protest against post-Brexit agricultural policy in Wales, is the new Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs ready for the challenge? In his first interview for the programme, Anna Hill asks him about the 10% tree policy, how they plan to tackle bovine TB and whether they're doing enough to clean up Welsh rivers. The Government has published its long awaited River Wye Action Plan, which includes the doubling of grants for farm slurry stores and up to ...
15/04/2024 Trail hunting, diversification, climate-resistant hops
April 15, 2024 05:00 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBChanges to farm support payments after Brexit, increasingly unpredictable weather, not to mention a cost of living crisis means farmers are relying more on additional income streams to boost their farm profits. We’re going to be looking into farm diversifications all this week, and while you might think the most common sources of extra income would be accommodation for tourists and things like farm shops, in fact letting out buildings for businesses and producing solar energy were the top tw...
13/04/24 - Farming Today This Week: Changes to flood payments, bird flu in cattle and SSSIs
April 13, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MBChanges have been made to the UK Government's Farming Recovery Fund after the NFU reported "major issues" with the scheme. The Fund was announced back in January, to provide up to £25,000 to farmers affected by Storm Henck to go towards repairs to their land. Four months later, this week the Government opened that fund to applications...and almost immediately some farmers reported problems... We are still in the midst of the worst Avian Flu outbreak we have ever seen - the highly infectiou...
12/04/24 Financial impact of extreme weather on farms, sustainable pork labelling, upland sheep farming vs conservation.
April 12, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBA new report has put a price on how much the changing climate is affecting farmers. Commissioned by WWF Cymru, looking specifically at Wales, it estimates that extreme weather events are already costing farms tens of millions of pounds a year. Can hill farming and conservation work together? Since taking over the tenancy of a Lake District farm in 2011, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has drastically reduced the number of sheep grazing on the hills, focusing instead on natur...
11/04/24 - Wet weather impacts, farming recovering fund, pigs on straw and farming in space
April 11, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.8 MBThe UK Government's Farming Recovery Fund had opened to help farmers badly hit by Storm Henck back in January to pay for repairs to their land. The fund provides those who are eligible with up to £25,000 but some flood-hit farmers say they won't get as much as they'd hoped, because the pay outs only apply to fields within 150m of specific rivers. There are many different ways of rearing pigs. Piglets can either be born indoors or outdoors, then once they're weaned most are reared inside. Th...
10/04/24 - SSSI designations, flood fund and outdoor pigs
April 10, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBWho should decide whether an area of land is of such great environmental importance it should be given legal protection? A bill being considered by Parliament at the moment wants the power to designate Sites of Special Scientific Interest transferred from Natural England - the Government’s own advisor for the natural environment in England - to the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. The Private Member’s Bill has the backing of former DEFRA secretary, Thérèse Coffey, a...
09/04/24 - Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice, farrowing crates
April 09, 2024 05:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBThe relationship between landowners and tenant farmers can be a difficult one - but it’s hoped a new Code of Practice could help improve things. It was one of the key recommendations of the Rock Review into tenant farming in England. The Tenant Farmers Association has called it a “major step forward”, saying “for too long tenants have felt marginalised and mistreated.” And we visit a state of the art pig farm to find out about a replacement for ‘farrowing crates’. These are the small pens ...
08/04/24 Caged hens, young rangers and pig week.
April 08, 2024 05:00 - 12 minutes - 11 MBShould cages for laying hens be banned? The Scottish Government is consulting on phasing them out, in order, it says, 'to improve their welfare by allowing birds to exhibit their normal behaviours.' Egg producers warn it would mean Scottish consumers paying more for eggs - or potentially being offered English imports - and say the ban is being proposed without a full understanding of the larger enriched cages currently used. Farming Today hears from one producer who says the ban will hurt th...
06/04/24 Farming Today This Week: Import charges, wet weather, dogs
April 06, 2024 06:00 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBThe Food and Drink Federation says new labelling rules will cost food companies million of pounds. From October dairy and meat products for sale in Great Britain will have to have "not for EU" on the packaging, just as products on sale in Northern Ireland have had since last year. The Government says the aim is to make sure that Northern Irish consumers have access to the same goods. The FDF says that's unnecessary could have "grave and unintended consequences" for the UK food and drink sect...
05/04/24 - Flooded farms fund, accessible footpaths
April 05, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MBFlooded and waterlogged farmers are asking what's happened to the Government's Farming Recovery Fund. It was announced after storm Henk back in January and offered up to £25,000 to farmers towards the clean up after the storm. Well since then, the rain has kept on falling - but no sign of the fund. We hear from one flooded farmer who needs the money to clean up a 10 mile stretch of flood debris. Today the Ramblers organisation launches its 'Outdoors Unlocked' campaign, urging the Governme...
04/04/24 - 'Not for EU' labelling, share farming and footpath repairs
April 04, 2024 05:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBMuddled, costly and unnecessary regulatory burdens - that's the Food and Drink Federation's description of new labelling rules which it says will cost food companies million of pounds. From October dairy and meat products for sale in Great Britain will have to have 'not for EU' on the packaging. Just as products on sale in Northern Ireland have had since last year. The Government says the aim is to make sure that Northern Irish consumers have access to the same goods, as with the same labels...
30/03/24 Farming Today This Week: Protest at Westminster, cap on land taken out of food production, Brexit impacts on salmon.
March 30, 2024 07:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBEarlier this week English farmers drove tractors into London and held a rally outside Parliament, protesting at what they say is a lack of support for British food production. Just a few hours before that rally the Government announced a change in the rules for environmental schemes. Farmers will now only be able to put 25% of their land into schemes which take land out of food production to try to address concerns about food security. Brexit has cost Scotland up to £100m a year in 'lo...
28/03/24 - Scottish salmon exports, basalt dust and flax fishing nets
March 28, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBFarmed salmon was the UK’s most valuable food export in 2023, according to the HMRC, with £581 million pounds worth of international sales. But Scotland’s salmon farmers reckon they could have made far more, and that Brexit has cost them up to £100 million a year worth of exports. Flax is grown commercially to produce fabrics like linen in the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France and it was once common in fields around the UK too, but not any more. However, some small-scale flax produc...
27/03/24 - ELMs change, leather and otters
March 27, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBThe Government is placing a 25% cap on the amount of land farmers can take out of food production, and put aside for certain environmental schemes. Farmers can be paid for environmental actions - like growing seed for wild birds - as part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, or SFI, which is replacing the old EU farm subsidies in England. Now, new applicants who choose a selection out of 6 of the schemes, will only be able to put a total of 25% of their land into them. The new cap comes aft...
26/03/24 - London farmer protests, Scottish herring and hempcrete
March 26, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBFarmers have been gathering in London's Parliament Square to protest about what they feel is a lack of support for British food production. Organisers said they have three demands: first, a ban on what they see as 'dishonest' labelling where food imported and processed in Britain can be labelled as British; second, they want the UK to withdraw from the Australian and New Zealand Trade Deals; and third, they want a clear plan for 'food security'. Herring used to be a mainstay of communities ...
25/03/24 The value of British wool; septic tank crisis.
March 25, 2024 06:00 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBWhy is wool so worthless for farmers? The price they get for a fleece barely covers the cost of shearing. And septic tanks in Cornwall in crisis because of wet weather. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
23/03/24 - Farming Today This Week: Universal credit, grouse moor licencing and shellfish
March 23, 2024 07:00 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBSome farmers who already rely on state benefits are being told they need to look for paid work and ditch their farm businesses if they want to continue receiving those benefits. It’s happening because of changes in the way welfare is delivered, so farmers on Tax Credits are now being switched to Universal Credit. But eligibility for Universal Credit is calculated using monthly income and expenditure, which doesn’t sit well with very seasonal farm businesses. The Wildlife and Muirburn Bill h...
22/03/24 Licensing for Scottish grouse shoots, illegal waste dumping, oyster fishing on the Fal
March 22, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBThe Wildlife and Muirburn Bill has passed through the Scottish Parliament and brings in the licensing of grouse shoots, banning animal snares and changing the rules on the burning of heather. For the RSPB it's game changing legislation, for gamekeepers a disproportionate response. Conservation groups are calling for a clean up of an ancient woodland in Kent, which they say has been left devastated by the dumping of illegal waste. This is a place called Hoads Wood near Ashford, which is pri...
21/03/24 - Universal Credit changes for farmers, mussel farming
March 21, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBSome farmers who already rely on state benefits are being told they need to look for paid work and ditch their farm businesses if they want to continue receiving those benefits. It’s happening because of changes in the way welfare is delivered, so farmers on Tax Credits are now being switched to Universal Credit. But eligibility for Universal Credit is calculated using monthly income and expenditure, which doesn’t sit well with farm businesses where these can vary enormously depending on the...
20/03/24 - Shellfish deaths, incoming Welsh First Minister, waste wool and avian flu
March 20, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBFishermen and wildlife are still feeling the impact nearly two and a half years after the mass shellfish deaths on England's North East Coast. After several years of investigations and reviews, the conclusion of an independent expert panel, chaired by DEFRA's Chief Scientific Adviser Professor Gideon Henderson, was that the deaths of crabs, lobsters and other commercially important shellfish, was "as like as not", down to an unknown pathogen. Fishermen had blamed contamination from dredging ...
19/03/24 Farmer protests and EU concessions; Scampi; Special protection areas for wild birds; New national nature reserve.
March 19, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBSpanish farmers in Madrid have held more protests, despite the European Commission announcing a review of its so-called 'green deal' which was designed to help the EU reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Farmers across Europe have voiced their anger at red tape and new environmental rules. Last week the Commission published a raft of proposed changes, which still have to be agreed. It says it'll cut back on red tape, allow individual member states more freedom over new 'greening' rules, and remo...
18/03/24 Forecast for farm incomes; Scottish land reform; Shellfish.
March 18, 2024 06:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBThe government's farm business incomes forecast for this year makes grim reading: in England dairy farmers are expected to earn 78% less than last year, largely due to falls in the milk price; cereal farmers face a 77% cut, though prices have been high and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs says the fall reflects a return to more normal levels as well as a reduction in the amount of arable crops grown; while mixed farms will see a 49% cut in income. Only those grazing lives...
16/03/24 Farming Today This Week: Badger culls, food labelling, religious slaughter
March 16, 2024 07:00 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MBBadger culling could continue indefinitely in England under new government proposals which reverse earlier pledges to begin to phase out badger culls from next year. The Government says culls are working in helping to reduce TB in cattle. Now ministers say that in high risk and edge areas, which covers much of southwest and central England, culling could continue until the Chief Veterinary Officer deems that the situation has improved, at which point badger vaccination would be introduced. ...
15/03/24 - Welfare labelling, badger culling, cat gut strings and winter planting
March 15, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBBadger culling could continue indefinitely in England under new Government proposals which reverse earlier pledges to begin to phase out badger culls from next year. The Government says culls are working in helping to reduce TB in cattle - pointing to stats from the first 52 cull areas where there is an average reduction in TB breakdowns in cattle of 56% after 4 years of culling. Now ministers say that in high risk and edge areas, which covers much of southwest and central England, culling c...
14/03/24 Organised gangs and rural crime; Heritage crime and nighthawkers; Salmon feed from whisky byproducts.
March 14, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBThe National Rural Crime Network is calling for an overhaul of the way rural crime is dealt with. It's commissioned a new report which says serious organised criminals are increasingly preying on rural communities and highlights hare coursing, the theft of tractors and livestock and fly tipping as having major impacts. The report from Durham University says these crimes are often carried out by 'prolific rural offenders' linked with illegal drugs rather than being opportunistic. Heritage ...
13/03/24 Vet shortage, brewing by-product, lamb virus
March 13, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBA shortage of vets is currently affecting services across all aspects of public and private animal health and biosecurity. In 2018 the gap in the veterinary workforce was put at 11%. At a hearing yesterday in Westminster the Chief Vet, Christine Middlemiss, told the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee that that shortage had not improved. All week we're exploring how by-products from farming can be put to use on farm or elsewhere. Today, beer and Marmite. A virus which caus...
12/03/24 River pollution from poultry farming; Chicken litter used to generate power; Ramadan lamb
March 12, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBThe Soil Association, has called for a ban on any new intensive broiler farms being set up in the UK. The organic farming group has published a new report called "Stop Killing Our Rivers" which says it's impossible to manage chicken meat production without harming the environment, especially rivers. The report says the chicken meat sector has been expanding at a rate of one million birds per month, since 2014 and has now reached more than a billion birds per year. All week we're looking in...
11/03/24 Tree planting and agroforestry; Pesticides report; Fertiliser from byproducts.
March 11, 2024 06:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBThe writer Michael Morpurgo and his wife Clare have long been advocates for helping young people learn more about farming and the countryside, so much so, that they set up Farms for City Children nearly 50 years ago. Young people help run the farm and learn about both farming and nature. For one of their latest projects in Devon, they’ve teamed up with the Woodland Trust to involve primary school children, planting trees inside what they call roundels - a protective barrier, which keeps out...
08/03/24 Farmer protests; Red Tractor / green tractor row; Learning to lamb.
March 08, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBThe consultation on the Welsh Government's controversial Sustainable Farming Scheme has now closed. The National Farmers Union Cymru marked the moment by placing 5,500 pairs of wellies on the steps of the Welsh Parliament to highlight the farming jobs which could be lost if the plan is adopted. Farmers across Wales, and some in England, have held tractor convoys and protest meetings over the past few weeks. We look at what's led farmers to take action now. The whole idea of a green tractor ...