PODCAST

Farming Today

BBC Radio 4

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

science

All Episodes

14:04

12/03/25 - Planning and Infrastructure Bill and an...

Farming Today ·

2025/03/12

The Government's new Planning and Infrastructure Bill promises to bring about the 'biggest building boom' in a generation, delivering 1.5 million new homes, and developing green energy infrastructure across the countryside. The aim is to speed up planning decisions, but some landowners are worried the changes could mean a slew of compulsory purchase orders by public bodies - something that's being made easier in the bill.And we go out with an agricultural drone contractor, who is licensed and

14:07

11/03/25 - Foot and Mouth Disease in Hungary and...

Farming Today ·

2025/03/11

A case of Foot and Mouth has been identified on a dairy farm in the North West of Hungary. Imports from Hungary and Slovakia of meat and other animal products have been banned, to try to prevent the disease spreading to the UK. A similar ban has been in place on products from Germany following cases there in January, but concerns have been raised that German animal products have still entered the UK since then. We ask if UK border controls are good enough to keep UK farmers safe.And the vast

11:45

10/03/25 - Lead shot and agricultural contractors

Farming Today ·

2025/03/10

A voluntary agreement to phase out lead shot isn't working - according to a study by researchers at the University of Cambridge. They bought pheasants from butchers, game dealers and supermarkets across Britain this year, and found that of the 171 found to contain shot, 99% contained lead. That's despite a voluntary agreement in 2020 whereby UK shooting organisations agreed to phase out the use of lead shot - which is toxic - and move to alternatives like steel shot by this year. The British

25:02

08/03/25 Farming Today This Week: Impact of US...

Farming Today ·

2025/03/08

The American President Donald Trump wants farmers in the US to produce more for the domestic market as the rows over import tariffs continue. So what might this all this mean for them, for us and for global trade? For This Natural Life, this week on on BBC Radio 4, Martha Kearney visited Sir James Dyson on his farm in Somerset to hear what the natural world means to him, and how that is being reflected in his approach to farming.Bird flu continues to hit poultry farms across the country. Last week

13:58

07/03/25 - Rural connectivity, farmers co-ops and...

Farming Today ·

2025/03/07

Broadband speeds in rural areas are 26% slower than they are in urban areas and there are still parts of the country that have no mobile phone access at all. That's according to the Government, which has recently launched it's new ‘Digital Inclusion Action Plan’ to try and change that picture. They’re also looking to improve the digital skills of the 7.3 million people who they say lack the minimum essential digital skills for work. We find out what it could mean for rural Britain.Our food supply

14:08

06/03/2025 - What do Trump's tariffs mean for global...

Farming Today ·

2025/03/06

American farmers are being urged to produce more by their president. Mr Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on goods, including agricultural produce, from Canada and Mexico, and both countries are imposing retaliatory tariffs on American goods. As is China, which is the biggest market for US agriculture products. So what might this all this mean for them, for us and for global trade? For This Natural Life on BBC Radio 4, Martha Kearney visits Sir James Dyson on his farm in Somerset to hear what the

13:52

05/03/2025 - Pig supply chain, blossom watch and a...

Farming Today ·

2025/03/05

New rules for the pig supply chain are due to be introduced this Spring to help even-up what DEFRA describes as a 'power imbalance' between farmers and processors. The rules have been developed after a crisis in the industry caused by a combination of Brexit and Covid - when back in 2021, a shortage of staff at processing sites left farmers unable to send their pigs for slaughter, despite having contracts in place. So how much difference will it make?We find out about a project called FruitWatch,

14:00

04/03/25 - The cost of avian flu, apple supply chain...

Farming Today ·

2025/03/04

Bird flu continues to hit poultry farms across the country with 49 cases in England, 2 in Northern Ireland and 1 in Scotland. We hear from one farmer about the hidden cost of having an outbreak - from £10,000 worth of wasted eggs to the loss of the next 2 years of business.We visit a distribution centre for the AGPO growers’ co-operative based in Kent, where apples and pears are delivered daily from nearby nitrogen cold storage facilities before being sent on to supermarkets.And a trial at the

11:55

03/03/25 - Solar farms on tenant farms, the wisdom of...

Farming Today ·

2025/03/03

The Tenant Farmers Association says the Government's decision to allow a solar project on farmland in Yorkshire is 'crushing' for farmers who rent land. Harmony Energy can now build a solar farm with battery storage on land owned by the Fitzwilliam Trust near Malton. The tenant farmers who currently farm there have campaigned for the past four years to halt the project.Fishing is facing a shortage of workers – fewer people are coming from the European Union to work, and many older fishermen who

25:01

01/03/25 - Farming Today This Week: NFU Conference,...

Farming Today ·

2025/03/01

The re-introduction of inheritance tax on farm assets dominated this year's National Farmers Union Conference in London. The Union President told delegates farming is facing its biggest crisis of confidence in his lifetime. Facing a frosty reception, the DEFRA Secretary Steve Reed announced a new Farm Profitability Unit to be set up with the department, but told farmers he couldn't give them the answers they wanted on inheritance tax. Elsewhere, the conference focused on growth in agriculture -

14:05

28/02/25 - Trade rules, native bulbs and high beef...

Farming Today ·

2025/02/28

The DEFRA Secretary told Farming Today the Government will be looking into ways to prevent cheap imports of crops grown in countries which allow the use of chemicals that aren’t authorised for use in the UK. But how easy will that be? We ask a trade expert.There’s been a flying trade for beef and sheep this spring. The price for what’s called ‘dead weight’ cattle is at its highest ever according to the ADHD, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, and they say sheep prices are

14:04

27/02/25 Climate Change Committee report, daffodil...

Farming Today ·

2025/02/27

The Climate Change Committee has called for a transformation in agriculture in its latest report. The CCC advises the UK government on ways to reduce emissions in order to meet net zero by 2050. Its 7th report sets out a plan from 2038 to 2042, and recommends a 27% drop in the number of cattle and sheep, and that we all eat less meat. It wants to see more woodlands, more peatlands re-wetted and more energy crops like miscanthus. Scientists at Scotland's Rural College have been feeding cattle an

14:07

26/02/25 - NFU Conference 2025: Inheritance tax,...

Farming Today ·

2025/02/26

The re-introduction of inheritance tax on farm assets dominated this year's National Farmers Union Conference in London. The Union President told delegates farming is facing it's biggest crisis of confidence in his lifetime. Facing a frosty reception, the DEFRA Secretary Steve Reed announced a new Farm Profitability Unit to be set up with the department, but told farmers he couldn't give them the answers they wanted on inheritance tax.Elsewhere, the conference focused on growth in agriculture -

14:07

25/02/25 - Land classification, UK grown tulips and...

Farming Today ·

2025/02/25

As farmers know, not all fields are equal, and in England and Wales the Agricultural Land Classification system is used to define how productive farmland is. The best land has more protection from development in the planning system. But according to a report commissioned by the CPRE - the countryside charity - that classification system in England, is based on data from as long ago as the 1940s...so it's somewhat out of date.There’s only one farm left in the UK that still grows its tulip bulbs

12:02

24/02/25 Avian flu vaccines; bulb growing in Cornwall

Farming Today ·

2025/02/24

Bird flu is continuing its spread, with an ever growing list of English counties - and the whole of Northern Ireland – now under restrictions which mean all poultry has to be kept indoors. And stricter bio-security measures have been imposed across the whole of the UK.We hear from a farmer in Devon who has had to cull his birds because of a disease outbreak. And the chair of virology at Edinburgh University’s Roslin Institute, Professor Paul Digard, discusses the avian flu vaccine situation in the

24:45

22/02/25 - Farming Today This Week: Peat and climate...

Farming Today ·

2025/02/22

The majority of the UK's peatlands could be at risk of drying out in the next 40-50 years because of climate change - according to a new study from scientists at the Universities of Exeter, Manchester and Derby. Healthy, wet peatlands are seen as part of the solution to climate change because they soak up planet-heating carbon dioxide - UK peatlands currently store an estimated 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon. But where they dry out, they become a problem because they can then release that stored

14:01

21/02/25 Solar wildlife, Scottish land use strategy,...

Farming Today ·

2025/02/21

Solar farms managed for nature can benefit birds more than intensively farmed arable land. Research by the RSPB and the University of Cambridge looked at two types of solar farms in the East Anglian Fens. Those with mixed habitats - with hedgerows, no grass cutting or grazing sheep had a greater number and diversity of flowering plants and birds than intensively farmed arable land, or solar farms which were intensively managed.As England consults on its new land use framework we find out how

14:02

20/02/25 Land Use and solar development, food prices

Farming Today ·

2025/02/20

England's Land Use Framework is out to consultation. We speak to the academic who brought groups of farmers together to speak to Defra officials as they developed the policy. We also consider what impact the framework might have on big renewable projects in future - like one in East Anglia. The proposed solar development in East Pye in South Norfolk covers 2,700 acres in ten different locations, Local residents who object to the scheme have set up their own group called Block East Pye. They say they

13:50

19/02/2025 - Inheritance tax row, bottom trawling in...

Farming Today ·

2025/02/19

Farming leaders have said they left a much-anticipated meeting with the Treasury with their blood "boiling", claiming the Government has "shut the door" on any rethink of planned changes to inheritance tax on farms. It follows months of protests over plans for inherited agricultural assets worth more than a million pounds to be taxed at 20% from April next year.MPs have been debating calls to ban bottom trawling in England's Marine Protected Areas. Bottom trawling is a method of fishing where

13:55

18/02/2025 - UK peatlands at risk, agroforestry tree...

Farming Today ·

2025/02/18

505 results

Farming Today

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter