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Farming Today

BBC Radio 4

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

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13:55

05/11/25 Preparedness for animal disease, bird flu...

Farming Today ·

2025/11/06

As the number of bird flu cases across the country rises, DEFRA has announced bird keepers across England must house all poultry and captive birds if they keep more than 50 birds. Avian influenza is just one of the animal disease threats raised in a new report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. It says the government would not be ready for a serious national disease outbreak like BSE or foot and mouth because resources have been focused on tackling ongoing outbreaks of avian

13:59

06/11/25 Millennium Seed Bank - how wild seeds can...

Farming Today ·

2025/11/06

As part of our week-long focus on seeds we go behind the scenes at the Millennium Seed Bank in Sussex. It's celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Experts from Kew Royal Botanical Gardens collect, clean and curate wild seeds from around the world. They're stored in giant vaults and safeguarded for the future. This helps protect endangered species of plants, but scientists also germinate the seeds for use in conservation and agriculture.Presenter = Charlotte SmithProducer= Rebecca Rooney

14:00

04/11/25 Seasonal workers, seed merchant, farm...

Farming Today ·

2025/11/04

The government's announced the number of agricultural seasonal workers visas allowed for the UK for next year. 41,000 visas will be made available for horticulture and 1,900 for poultry. It's slightly lower than the current allowance, but the National Farmers Union has welcomed the announcement, saying it has been made in good time, so farms can organise recruitment ahead of next year's harvest. However the NFU says if the horticulture sector is to grow, it will need more workers in the future -

11:59

03/11/2025: Food security, no confidence in DAERA,...

Farming Today ·

2025/11/03

A cross party group of MPs are warning that UK food production could drop by almost a third, by 2050. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture also says that by 2050 - assuming all Government targets were met in full - almost a quarter of current UK farmland could be used for other purposes including renewable energy, housing, and nature restoration. The group is publishing a report today calling for the most productive farmland to be protected and for output to

25:03

01/11/2025: Drought, invasive species, waste

Farming Today ·

2025/11/01

The government's Drought Group has warned of ongoing problems in the year ahead unless reservoirs and rivers get enough rain in the next few months. The hot dry summer has pushed many farmers to re-evaluate how they use water. We speak to an expert who works with farmers and landowners to plan and manage water use. This week on Farming Today we've been looking at invasive species - from the Asian hornet which is killing our native honey bees, to Himalayan Balsam which spreads quickly and can choke

14:01

31/10/25: Pumpkin growers' nightmare. Drought to...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/31

Pumpkin growers have had a nightmare year. The crop needs plenty of water and the hot summer made them ripen too early for Halloween. Cost of living pressures have also affected some farms running visitor attractions like Pumpkin patches.Drought could continue into 2026 for some parts of England. The National Drought Group met yesterday and warned that England would need 100% of its average rainfall to ease the situation, but only 2 months so far this year had seen that much rain.After 2 legal

14:01

30/10/25: An uncomfortable transition? The buzz about...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/30

A Government commissioned review of the problems with farm profitability, carried out by Baroness Batters, is due to be delivered to DEFRA soon. It comes at a difficult moment for the arable sector in particular. One of the UK's biggest farming companies, Velcourt, has recently given notice to a fifth of the landowners it works with, that it will either leave or restructure contracts following negotiations. Velcourt's Group Chief Executive, Nick Shorter, tells Charlotte Smith that a painful period

14:22

29/10/25 Scottish Land Reform Bill, bird flu housing...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/29

The Land Reform Bill is being debated at Holyrood and members of the Scottish Parliament will be voting on what’s been described as landmark legislation. If passed, the bill could allow the government to intervene in private land sales and require large estates to be broken up. The proposals are controversial with landowners and some opposition politicians. Defra has announced that an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone will come into effect in the north, central and east of England. Poultry keepers

14:13

28/10/2025 Waste crime inquiry, beaver release, zebra...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/28

Multiple failures from the Environment Agency, a lack interest from police and a ‘woeful lack of successful convictions’. That’s what a House of Lords committee has found in its inquiry into ‘waste crime’. The inquiry from the cross party Environment and Climate Change Committee, says more than 38 million tonnes of illegal waste is being dumped each year often by organised crime groups involved in drugs, firearms, money laundering and modern slavery, and posing a serious environmental risk. Beavers

11:57

27/10/25 Energy costs for salad growers, carrots,...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/27

Salad growers are warning that price increases for electricity will drive people out of the sector. Growers in the Lea Valley on the edge of London say they have large electricity connections for times of heavy use, but often use much less power. Since 2022 they've been charged based not only on what they use, but also on the size of the connection, and they say that from April next year those standing charges will effectively double. They say they should have government support to help meet the

24:59

25/10/25: Beer and cider from land to glass

Farming Today ·

2025/10/25

The raw ingredients to make a pint all begin life on British farms whether malting barley, or cider apples and perry pears, or hops. For barley and hop growers 2025 has been a difficult year. It's been a happier one in cider and perry orchards. We meet a cider apple detective hunting for lost varieties in Somerset, and the award winning team preserving Gloucestershire's perry heritage.A review of environmental governance in Northern Ireland has called for a new independent environmental regulator to

14:00

24/10/2025 Fishing fund and Scottish fishers. DNA of...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/24

"Anger, dismay and sense of betrayal”. That’s how the SNP described the response of Scottish coastal communities to the allocation of money to Scotland from the UK’s new ‘Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund‘ in parliament yesterday. The £360 million pound fund was first announced back in May and aims to modernise Britain's fishing fleet, enhance workforce skills, and revitalise coastal communities. However Scotland says it's getting less than 8 percent of the fund, despite accounting for more than 60%

13:59

23/10/25 Environmental regulation in Northern...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/23

Northern Ireland needs a new independent environmental regulator, properly staffed and financially resourced to tackle the many challenges it will face. That’s one of the recommendations of a comprehensive review of the country’s environmental governance which its authors describe as a ‘call to action’. The review was prompted by a number of environmental concerns including extensive and repeated blooms of blue-green algae in Lough Neagh which supplies forty percent of drinking water. The report

14:00

22/10/25 Water Grid, Perry Pears, Sugar Beet Prices

Farming Today ·

2025/10/22

It's a familiar idea that batteries store electricity and now a new European project, called Water Grid, is encouraging farmers to create ponds as 'water batteries' for storing rainwater, to draw on in times of drought. Researchers think they could even be used to top up rivers. The Water Grid project will run across 13 European countries, and the 22 partners involved are being coordinated by the Westcountry Rivers Trust.We visit the National Perry Pear Collection in Gloucestershire, as it's the

13:46

21/10/25 Welfare report on CO2 and the slaughter of...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/21

An independent review of the way pigs are slaughtered has called for the use of carbon dioxide gassing to be prohibited, because it causes too much distress and pain to the animals. 90% of pigs reared in England and Wales are slaughtered this way. The report was carried out by the Animal Welfare Committee, an independent expert committee from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Scottish government and the Welsh government. It recommends that argon gas should be used instead

11:59

20/10/25 Planning reform, beer and growing hops.

Farming Today ·

2025/10/20

The Government’s bill to ‘get Britain building’ returns to the House of Lords for its report stage. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill gained more than sixty Government amendments earlier this month to streamline the process and give ministers more power to grant permission for big planning projects. However conservation campaigners are not happy about the developments, and the Government's rhetoric. All this week we’re taking a look at the beer and cider industry, and the UK growers who make it

24:57

18/10/25 Farming Today This Week: No U-turn on farm...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/18

There will be no U-turn on the Government’s plans for inheritance tax for farmers, according to the Farming Minister. Dame Angela Eagle says planned changes will go ahead in next month’s budget, in spite of press reports to the contrary."Too little too late", that’s what we’re hearing from some farmers who’ve already ploughed up and planted fields that were being farmed for nature. They say this is because the Government took too long to come up with an extension to their environmental funding.Red

14:05

17/10/25 Farming minister on sustainable farming...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/17

There will be no U-turn on the government’s plans for inheritance tax for farmers, according to the Farming Minister. Dame Angela Eagle says planned changes will go ahead in next month’s budget, in spite of press reports to the contrary. We also ask her about the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Some farmers are furious because they say the latest scheme, which has only just opened, comes far too late for those farmers who were looking for a replacement for agreements under a previous

14:11

16/10/25 Environmental scheme extension 'too late',...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/16

"Too little too late", that’s what we’re hearing from some farmers who’ve already ploughed up and planted fields that were being farmed for nature. They say this is because the government took too long to come up with an extension to their environmental funding. A House of Lords Committee says the Windsor Framework, the post-Brexit agreement between the UK and EU that’s meant to simplify trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is "overwhelmingly complex". Powys Council has just closed a

13:46

15/10/25: Milk prices, what it takes to get a Council...

Farming Today ·

2025/10/15

Some milk processors have made dramatic cuts to the price they pay farmers, citing a global oversupply. Some of you emailed us to ask why prices for dairy products, like butter, still seem to be going up in the shops? Dairy analyst Chris Walkland explains how global commodity prices influence the price UK farmers receive.We continue our exploration of the role the County Council Farm system plays in helping new farmers into the industry. Today, what it takes to win a competitive application process

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