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Farming Today

BBC Radio 4

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

science

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12:04

09/06/25 Onshore salmon farm plans, breeding wheat,...

Farming Today ·

2025/06/09

Grimsby could become home to the UK’s first large-scale onshore salmon farm. A judicial review has upheld North East Lincolnshire council’s decision to grant it planning permission. An animal rights group had challenged the development on fish welfare grounds. However a high court judge ruled that animal welfare concerns could be a key planning consideration in future planning cases.This week we’re following the journey of a loaf of bread, from seed, to the field, to the mill and eventually the

25:06

07/06/25 Farming Today This Week: Farm incomes up,...

Farming Today ·

2025/06/07

Eggs up, wheat down: what’s made the most cash for farmers? The Welsh government's plan to protect the environment, increase biodiversity and punish polluters. And warnings of innovation brain drain without more investment in agri-tech.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

14:00

04/06/25 - Animal disease outbreak preparedness,...

Farming Today ·

2025/06/04

The government is unlikely to be able to cope with a severe outbreak of animal disease like Foot and Mouth, according to the National Audit Office. In a new report, it says key public bodies including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, have been working so hard to manage outbreaks of diseases like avian flu over the last six years, that long term resilience is being undermined and there is no long-term strategy.The artificial fertilisers

14:06

03/06/25 - Welsh Environment Bill, small abattoirs...

Farming Today ·

2025/06/03

A new law which is intended to protect nature and reverse the loss of wildlife has been introduced by the Welsh Government. The Environment Bill aims to allow members of the public to challenge organisations in Wales, including councils, on environmental issues such as water pollution. If passed, it will set up a new Office of Environmental Governance, to enforce environmental law, and Ministers in the Senedd will have to set targets to reduce pollution and manage ecosystems.We visit Down Land

12:00

02/06/25 - Possible DEFRA budget cuts, falcon...

Farming Today ·

2025/06/02

There are concerns from wildlife and farming groups that the upcoming Spending Review will see the budget for nature-friendly farming schemes being cut, with money targeted only at smaller farms. We hear from farmers about what that could mean.We visit a falcon breeding facilities which supplies birds to the Middle East for the sport of falcon racing.And £5 million pounds is on offer as part of the Farming Innovation Investor Partnerships competition, which offers government money alongside private

24:52

31/05/25 Farming Today This Week: Drought in north...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/31

The Environment Agency says the north west of England is in drought. One farmer tells us this year's crops are already ruined because of a lack of water.Two proposed reservoirs have been given 'nationally significant' status by the government to speed up the planning process. Decisions on the Lincolnshire Reservoir which is planned for an area near Sleaford and the Fens Reservoir near March in Cambridgeshire will now be accelerated. Ministers say the law will also be changed so that in the future

14:03

30/05/25 - Galloway National Park turned down, the...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/30

Plans for a new National Park in Galloway and Ayrshire have been dropped. The Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary, Mairi Gougeon, has announced that following a consultation, the park doesn't have enough support locally, and so will not go ahead.In the Broads National Park in Norfolk, a rise in the number of deer is having an impact on habitats and farmland. A drone survey to asses the numbers has revealed as many as 20 per square km. Work is underway to generate a market for local venison to help

14:09

29/05/25 New Reservoirs, Golden Eagles, Coastal...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/29

Two proposed reservoirs have been given 'nationally significant' status by the government to speed up the planning process. Decisions on the Lincolnshire Reservoir which is planned for an area near Sleaford and the Fens Reservoir near March in Cambridgeshire will now be accelerated. Ministers say the law will also be changed so that in the future all projects which are, as they put it, 'fundamental to national water resilience' will automatically be designated as 'nationally significant'. Farming

14:01

28/05/2025 - Galloway National Park, UK bioethanol...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/28

The Scottish Government is due to make a statement this week about whether Galloway is to get a new National Park - or not. Galloway, in the south west of Scotland, was chosen from five potential locations and the first round of consultation on the plan was completed earlier this year, with its report now being considered by Scottish ministers. We hear from those in favour and against.Farmers who supply wheat to Britain’s biggest bioethanol plant have been told it may have to close unless the

13:52

27/05/25 National Parks, impact of dry weather,...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/27

All week we're looking at National Parks, last week the Supreme Court ruled that wild camping on Dartmoor is legal. Some areas, however, are dealing with anti-social behaviour and 'fly camping'. We talk to Kevin Bishop CEO of Dartmoor National Park who also sits on National Parks England about the challenges.The prolonged dry spell has had affected the growth of crops and water levels in rivers and reservoirs, but what about wildlife? We ask the British Trust for Ornithology what impact it's likely

25:06

24/05/25 - Farming Today This Week: The EU-UK Summit

Farming Today ·

2025/05/24

Five years on from Brexit, the Prime Minister has re-set the UK's trade relationship with the EU, with a new, wide-ranging deal. In this programme Caz Graham looks at what it could mean for food, farming and fishing.The UK and EU will now move towards an agreement which would reduce the paperwork and border checks involved in exporting foods like fish, meat and dairy, and fresh produce like plants and flowers. It also means the export of some products to the EU which has been banned since Brexit -

13:55

23/05/25 - Vet meds, octopuses off Devon, Welsh bTB...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/23

Veterinary medicine is not part of the agri-trade agreement sketched out between the EU and the UK earlier this week. It's left vets increasingly concerned that some veterinary medicines won’t be available in Northern Ireland after the end of this year when a ‘grace period’ under the Windsor Framework allowing medication from Great Britain to cross the Irish sea and be sold there runs out.The warming of coastal waters means a change in the species that can thrive in them. Fishermen in the South West

13:53

21/05/2025 The UK-EU deal, badger vaccination,...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/21

Border post facilities set up since Brexit to handle import checks could now be scaled down or even dismantled. The UK's new deal with the EU promises progress towards an agreement to reduce the paperwork and border checks involved in trading foods like meat and dairy. It also includes a deal on fishing which would allow EU boats to fish in British waters for a further 12 years. The Scottish Fishermen's Federation has called it "a horror show", but the DEFRA Secretary, Steve Reed, says it's a

14:07

20/05/2025 - The UK-EU Summit agreements, the impact...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/20

The Prime Minister has re-set the trade relationship between the UK and the EU, with a new, and extremely wide-ranging deal. In this programme Anna Hill digs into the impact of changes around fishing and a new agreement around Sanitary and Phytosanitary rules that govern safety and hygiene.Bovine TB costs the tax payer at least a hundred million pounds a year - in compensation for culled cattle, and measures to control the spread. But it also costs farmers - financially as well as emotionally. We

11:59

19/05/25 Summit to 'reset' trading between EU and UK....

Farming Today ·

2025/05/19

Sir Keir Starmer welcomes EU leaders to London today for a summit to improve cooperation and "re-set" relations in a post Brexit world. Fishing quotas are being talked about as a possible deal breaker. Leaving the EU has had a huge impact on some UK fishing businesses which is why industry leaders are adamant their interests shouldn’t be bartered away as part of a deal. We hear from Cornish fishermen who say the summit comes too late for their businesses.All week we're talking about bovine TB. Each

24:56

17/05/25 - Farming Today This Week: US Agriculture...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/17

The first member of Donald Trump’s cabinet to visit the UK is Brooke Rollins, his Agriculture Secretary. Secretary Rollins told journalists the 'historic' trade deal would create billions of dollars in opportunity for U.S. export markets and more choice for British consumers. She also described their notorious 'chlorinated chicken' as a myth. Is it? We look for some clarity. MPs have written to the Government calling for a year’s delay to the inheritance tax changes on farms. It’s agricultural

13:51

16/05/25 -The Balmoral Show

Farming Today ·

2025/05/16

A special programme from The Balmoral Show outside Lisburn in Northern Ireland. Helen Mark meets farmers showing rare breed pigs, as well as talking politics. Earlier this month, a consultation was launched by Northern Ireland's Farming Minister on a new Nutrients Action Programme or NAP - rules for farmers to help reduce water pollution. It includes a limit on the amount of excess phosphorus produced by intensively stocked livestock farms. The Ulster Farmers Union says it's the wrong approach, but

14:02

15/05/2025 Chlorine-washed chicken, turf farm,...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/15

So-called ‘chlorinated chicken’ has been a major sticking point in US-UK trade talks, one of the red lines British farmers say the Government cannot cross. But US Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, says we’ve got the wrong end of the stick about how their chicken is produced nowadays. So is chlorine washed chicken merely a “myth to dispel”? We look for some clarity.It’s been obligatory to keep all poultry and captive birds indoors in some parts of England under the Government’s mandatory

13:45

14/05/25 US Agriculture Secretary in UK. Grazing system.

Farming Today ·

2025/05/14

The US Agriculture Secretary has been in the UK to discuss trade deals with importers and exporters. Brooke Rollins said the 'historic' trade deal announced by Donald Trump and Keir Starmer would create billions of dollars in opportunity for U.S. export markets and more choice for British consumers. She also said she would like to see the UK and US more aligned on food standards regulations. We speak to the NFU for their response.All week we're taking a closer look at grassland - vital to livestock

13:50

13/05/25 - SFI update, herbal leys and deep soil...

Farming Today ·

2025/05/13

DEFRA says an "error was made" when closing the Sustainable Farming Incentive to new applications earlier this year, and people who had applications in progress when it was shut, could now be allowed to submit them. The Sustainable Farming Incentive - or SFI - is part of the new system of farm payments in England, replacing the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. It pays people to do things like grow cover crops, plant flowers for pollinators, and manage hedgerows on their land. But in March this year,

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