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The latest news about food, farming and the countryside
26 Episodes
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A new report says that the presence of microplastics in seafood has been overstated by the media. The paper, by researchers at Heriot-Watt University, says although media reports tended to concentrate on seafood contamination, the levels of microplastics in seafood is no greater than in other foodstuffs. It also says that dust and indoor air contain more microplastic particles than food.All week, we're taking a closer look at county council tenant farms. These farms have traditionally been a first step on the ladder, often for young aspiring farmers to get a foothold in agriculture. However county council tenancies have become harder to find and in recent years many cash-strapped councils have sold off a significant number of their farms. Not so in Staffordshire, where one young farmer Tom Chapman is building up his herd of sheep after securing a tenancy. Farm machinery manufacturers who export to the United States say their trade is being made 'almost impossible' after tariffs on steel and aluminium were extended. Originally tariffs on steel and aluminium were just for bulk items, but now, if a UK-made tractor is exported to the US, every steel or aluminium component - down to individual nuts and bolts - has to be taxed on the basis of where it came from, so the correct overall tariff payment is made. We speak to the Agricultural Engineers Association.Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
England's current approach to planning for floods is "underpowered and fragmented". That's according to a report from MPs which is published today.
The Environmental Audit Committee says the Government should set up a single joint flood reporting and information service and spend more on flood resilience, with a fairer funding formula for rural areas. The MPs say farmers can play a key role, for instance in storing water, but should be paid for their work. We've been talking to all the major political parties over the past few weeks, during party conference season. The SNP conference continues in Aberdeen today and with elections to the Scottish Parliament in May there is a lot to discuss.Over the past few decades many councils have been reassessing their property portfolios and council farms have been sold off. This week we'll look at why, and why some feel that's a mistake. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
We report on the increasing amounts of waste dumped in the countryside and how to tackle it.As party conference season continues, we're hearing from most of the major parties on their farming and rural policies. Agricultural policy is devolved and with elections for the Welsh Parliament in May next year, Plaid Cymru's conference this weekend may well be seen as a launch for that election campaign.Farmers whose land was compulsorily purchased say they're frustrated that they still can't buy it back. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
As President Trump plans to bail out soyabean farmers and China goes to South America for supplies, how will UK animal feed be affected by the turmoil?
How should insects be farmed? Is their welfare important? We hear from a professor of animal sentience who says the way farmed insects are being viewed is changing.
The illegal sport of hare coursing is on the rise in the Vale of Glamorgan, causing damage to farms and stress to farmers. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
What has been described as the biggest legal claim ever brought in the UK over environmental pollution has been filed at the High Court. Almost 4000 people have signed up to a class action lawsuit against major poultry producers and a water company over allegations of "extensive and widespread pollution" in the rivers Wye, Lugg and Usk. They argue that the state of the rivers in recent years has severely affected local businesses, property values and people's enjoyment of the area - and are seeking "substantial damages". The companies being sued - Avara Foods Limited, Freemans of Newent Limited and Welsh Water - all deny the claims. When King Charles was crowned, a pledge was made to create 25 new or larger National Nature reserves within 5 years. The "King's series" reserves are meant to move beyond simple conservation - to be bigger, more connected and with nature recovery their primary purpose. The 12th such reserve has just opened and is a significant extension of a reserve in the Yorkshire Dales that contains one third of Britain's flowers and ferns in one biological hotspot. And all this week we're looking at rural crime. In Scotland, insurers NFU Mututal is reporting a sudden spike in thefts of quad bikes and all terrain vehicles, or ATVs.
Data released by them in September this year shows the value of quad bike thefts in Scotland has risen 90%, compared with 2024. Losses are estimated at nearly 200 thousand pounds up to September, compared to £102,000 for whole of last year.Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sally Challoner.
More than twenty five dairy farms in Scotland say their businesses could be at risk after the UK Government removed farm workers from the visa system for skilled overseas labour. In July, the government cut the jobs of 'farmer' and 'agricultural contractor' from the Temporary Shortage Occupation list. We meet one of the horseback volunteers keeping an eye out for suspicious activity in Cumbria, and find out how the police force's Rural Crime Unit is overcoming the inherent challenges of fighting crime in the countryside.The British Wool Marketing Board is 75 years old this year. British Wool, and the Great British Sewing Bee judge Patrick Grant, hope that wool will increasingly be seen as a solution to the very modern problem of plastic pollution. Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Sarah Swadling
A rural crime expert tells us there's been an 'ideological and material' shift away from the problem in some police force areas. Dr Kate Tudor from Durham University says despite this there have been some positives in the fight against rural crime, following the advent of a National Rural Crime Team. All this week Farming Today is examining the issue.The warmest summer on record for the UK has meant good yields and high-quality grapes in our vineyards, and winemakers looking forward to a vintage year.It's the Conservative Party Conference this week, in Manchester, we hear what's on their policy agenda for farming and the countryside.Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Sarah Swadling
Twenty tonnes of illegal meat and animal products have been intercepted at Dover in September alone according to Dover's Head of Port Health and Public Protection. Lucy Manzano tells us the amount of illegal meat her staff are seizing is 'escalating'.The way deprivation is measured in the UK means the challenges facing rural areas aren't taken into account. That’s the conclusion of "Pretty Poverty", a new report from Plymouth Marjon University. It argues that rural hardship could be "hidden behind scenic views" and that factors like needing to own a car in remote areas with poor public transport aren’t taken into consideration.All week we've been looking at livestock markets, we catch up with farmers who say Cockermouth Mart in Cumbria is a vital social hub. We visit a mart on the English Welsh border to find out how the sector's coping with bluetongue restrictions and we speak to Dr Carrie Batten the bluetongue expert at the World Organisation for Animal Health and Head of the National Reference Laboratory for the disease at the Pirbright Institute Every autumn pigs are released into the New Forest for the ancient tradition of "pannage". The pigs gobble up acorns from the thousands of oak trees in the Forest - and it's a bumper crop this year. Good news for fattening pigs, but bad news for ponies and cattle for whom the acorns are toxic.Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
The price farmers are paid for milk is falling. This comes at a bad time for many farmers who are having to buy in forage for their cows after the long hot summer slowed, or stopped, the growth of grass. The new Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds says farming is "transforming and modernising". In one of her first speeches, at the Labour Party conference, she told delegates she's seen first hand how much we depend on hardworking farmers.And why bluetongue virus matters for food security.Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
As the Labour Party Conference continues, the Prime Minister says improving profitability is his priority for farming. There's no sign of change on the decision to reimpose Inheritance Tax on farms worth over £1 million.We begin a week focussing on the role of livestock markets in 21st century farming, and ask are they as relevant now as a generation ago?County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, is famous for its Bramley Apples and we visit a grower who says his family has apple in their blood.Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Sarah Swadling
As the fallout continues from cyber attacks on Jaguar Land Rover and nursery chain Kido in recent days, so too does scrutiny of the food supply chain and how vulnerable it may be to hackers. We've talked a lot about the problems the baking weather this summer has caused farmers, but for apple, pear and plum growers it has been great. The Lyth Valley in south Cumbria is known for its damson orchards, a dazzle of snowy white blossom in spring and this year creaking under the weight of a bumper harvest. It's such a bumper crop that some growers have more damsons than they know what to do with.What will you eat today and where will it come from? For Max Cotton that's an easy question: he'll be having what's in season and grows in the UK. For the past year he has been following a UK only diet on a strict budget and he's made a series about how and why, Food Britannia on BBC Radio 4 next week.Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
As the fallout from a cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover continues, how vulnerable are the major retailers' food supply chains to hackers? The Grocer's Technology Editor tells us that the supermarkets are nervous, and putting pressure on their suppliers to improve cybersecurity.England's new Tenant Farming Commissioner has been named. Alan Laidlaw will be an 'independent champion' to promote better relationships between tenants and landlords, according to DEFRA.
We visit an orchard full of historic plum varieties in Gloucestershire and check in on autumn crop drilling progress with a Northamptonshire farmer. Presenter: Steffan Messenger
Producer: Sarah Swadling
This year's baking heat has had a beneficial impact on damsons and dahlias.The Lyth Valley in south Cumbria is known for its damson orchards, a dazzle of snowy white blossom in spring and this year creaking under the weight of a bumper harvest. It's such a bumper crop that some growers have more damsons than they know what to do with.In Gloucestershire dahlia growers are enjoying a good growing season. These bright autumn flowers originally come from Mexico, and their popularity here as a cut flower is growing. Weather patterns are changing, and farmers in the usually dry eastern counties of England are having to adapt to more sudden and unpredictable downpours. This water runs off the land, and rather than giving crops a drink, it ends up on country lanes taking precious soil with it. We join a water workshop in Norfolk where farmers are learning how they can do more to contain and re-use water.Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
Farmland bird populations in England have seen a 'rapid nosedive' says the RSPB. It's worried by new Government figures showing an 11% decrease in farmland bird numbers between 2019 and 2024. Meanwhile, farmers in Scotland have been trialling tweaks to conservation scheme options which could help the Corn Bunting.And, new techniques to make Plum growing more profitable by using resources more efficiently.Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Sarah Swadling
Bluetongue affects ruminant animals, like Sheep and Cattle, and it's spread between animals by biting midges. The disease tends to subside as temperatures drop but vets are warning farmers not to become complacent about Bluetongue this autumn. Anna Hill hears from the British Veterinary Association.This week we're focussing on apples, plums and their ilk - known as Top Fruit. Today, a visit to a Herefordshire orchard growing apple varieties old and new, which is enjoying a good harvest.Anna visits a conference in North Norfolk, where farmers are at the sharp end of balancing farming for food production with farming for nature.Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Sarah Swadling
It's a good year for British apples, a lack of frost and an abundance of warm weather should mean a bumper crop. Harvest is underway and hopes are high, but there are continuing concerns about the loss of orchards and growers' reluctance to invest in new ones.It's party conference season and we're hearing from all the parties about their plans for the countryside. Today we speak to Tim Farron from the Liberal Democrats who would scrap inheritance tax on farms.An experimental scheme using drones to disperse native tree seeds across areas of rocky moorland in the Scottish Highlands has produced encouraging results. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
A new report into the health of waterways in National Parks in England and Wales claims that they aren't being properly protected from agricultural and sewage pollution. The research, from the Campaign for National Parks and Rivers Trust, has found that almost sixty percent of rivers and lakes in these areas are failing to meet the legal standard for 'good ecological status'.Whether it's doctors and dentists or banks and buses, services in the countryside are often harder for residents to access. According to the Rural Services Network, local authorities in rural areas get 40 percent less funding than their counterparts, and rural residents pay 20 percent more council tax. We hear from their Chief Executive Kerry Booth. This week, the Environment Agency announced that drought conditions are likely to continue into Autumn, with five areas of England remaining in drought status. With many of us seeing torrential rain over the past week, the news may come as a surprise. We speak to two farmers in different parts of the country - the traditionally wet West and the dry East, to hear about the impact of the weather this summer - and this week - on their businesses. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Jo Peacey. Farming Today This Week is a BBC Audio Bristol Production.
The lack of affordable housing has long been a barrier to people living and working in rural areas. The Rural Services Network described it this year as a 'rural housing emergency'. All this week we've been looking at rural services, from buses to health, and today it's housing. We've reported before on some of the issues: planning, second homes and high prices for instance. Today we hear about some of the solutions.It's party conference season; agriculture is important to Northern Ireland's economy and so will be discussed at its parties conferences, Sinn Fein's in April and the DUP's tomorrow.A report out this week says our food system needs to change as it's responsible for too many emissions and too much ill health. The 5 year study which cost £47 million was funded by UK Research and Innovation and published this week in a Royal Society journal. What might a food system transformation mean for farming here in the UK? Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
The Environment Agency announced this week that drought is likely to extend into the autumn for some areas. But September is making up for August's lack of rain and, where there have been heavy downpours, farmers are starting to hope for a little respite. Charlotte Smith talks to two dairy farmers: one in the dry East of England the other in the (usually) damp West about the swing from heatwave to showers.An organised crime gang has been jailed for machinery and vehicle thefts from farms, worth millions of pounds. Seven men were jailed for a total of twenty five years after pleading guilty at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Monday. We hear from the detective in charge of the investigation.And we continue our look at rural services, with buses.Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Sarah Swadling
A new report claims rivers in England and Wales' National Parks aren't protected adequately against sewage discharges and agricultural runoff. 'Rivers at Risk', published by Campaign for National Parks and the Rivers Trust says in some areas the sewage system isn't able to cope with an influx of holiday visitors. The report's timed to send a message to the Government ahead of forthcoming reforms to the water industry.There's a week left to comment in the Government's consultation on the future of the Post Office. We hear about the gap left by the closure of the post office in one South Devon village.The cost of running a fishing boat has risen, but so have profits. Anna Hill discusses the findings of Seafish's latest report on the economics of the UK fleet.Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Sarah Swadling
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it's with despair to overcrowd animals cramped quarters. A difficult manner to run a profitable farm nowadays.