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Farming Today

BBC Radio 4

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

science

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13:50

03/01/25 Breeding dairy cows for methane reduction,...

Farming Today ·

2025/01/03

How Hilda, a newborn dairy calf, has been bred to help tackle climate change.Experts in animal behaviour and welfare are conducting experiments at Scotland's Rural College pig research unit aimed at finding practical solutions to some of the biggest challenges faced by the pig industry. And the efforts being made to turn the tide of salt marsh decline. Presented by Helen Mark and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

13:59

02/01/25 - Gene edited indoor tomatoes, rural crime,...

Farming Today ·

2025/01/02

Cleaning and disinfecting dairy milking equipment, whether robotic or manual, uses large amounts of energy and significant quantities of chemicals. It’s a necessary but expensive process. So farmers are watching with interest the team developing a system that claims to do away with both those things. Scientists at the UK Agri-Tech Centre are collaborating with a company called Oxitech on a method that uses electricity and oxygen instead. Theft of machinery, fly tipping, cattle rustling, hare

13:39

01/01/25 Crofters and the ancient Calanais Standing...

Farming Today ·

2025/01/01

The Calanais Standing Stones on the west side of the Isle of Lewis date back 5000 years, and predate Stonehenge. The Neolithic monument, which was used for rituals and astronomical observation, stands on raised land above a crofting township and attracts an ever-growing number of visitors.A new £10 million visitor centre is in construction, but it won't be complete in time for the additional crowds who are expected to arrive in 2025 to view a lunar standstill over the stones, a phenomenon that

13:52

31/12/24 - The Derby Tup

Farming Today ·

2024/12/31

The Derby Tup is a traditional Derbyshire agricultural folk song, performed at Christmas. It tells the story of a farmer, his wife (Our Owd Lass), their son and a giant tup - the ram used for breeding. The sheep's reared, sheared and eventually butchered. We hear from a group of performers who've kept this old "mumming play" tradition alive. Matthew Headley Stoppard is a Leeds-based folk poet who performs it every year with his wife and sons. Its exact date of origin is unknown, but it was performed

11:39

30/12/24 - The Otter Estuary

Farming Today ·

2024/12/30

Sarah Swadling is on the Otter estuary in Devon where the clock has been turned back 200 years to tackle climate change challenges of the present, and of the future. The sea has been allowed back onto farmland that had been reclaimed during the Napoleonic war era. The result is a new salt marsh and mudflat nature reserve. It's hoped letting the estuary return to its natural course will reduce the risk of flooding for homes and businesses. As Sarah hears, the ambitious project also meant raising a

24:56

28/12/24 The bogs of the Flow Country - a peatland...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/28

The biggest peat bog in Europe, in Caithness and Sutherland, has become a UNESCO World Heritage site, putting it on a par with Tanzania's Serengeti and the Eiffel Tower. It's the first such designation for a peatland site, and is expected to have an impact on the local economy, boosting tourism and peatland restoration work. What is so interesting and important about this vast wet desert of undulating brown hills in the UK's far north? Is the new tag helping the region, or as some fear, hindering

14:02

27/12/24 Lake District Barn Rescue

Farming Today ·

2024/12/27

Twenty historic barns across the Lake District are enjoying some long overdue tender loving care, thanks to £3.2 million pounds worth of funding from DEFRA and other sources. The oldest of these barns dates back to the 15th century. Some are traditional cruck barns with ancient timber frames and others are remote stone shelters for sheep from the 18th century.As Caz Graham discovers, they’re part of the UK’s rural cultural heritage and tell the story of farming over the centuries. For modern-day

13:44

26/12/24 - Solomon the government bull

Farming Today ·

2024/12/26

Solomon is just one of the bulls owned by the Scottish Government and welcomed by crofters as part of a unique livestock improvement scheme.Small scale crofters in the Highlands and Islands can choose a mate for their beef herds from a select stud of bulls owned by the Scottish Government. Groups of crofters band together to order an animal which spends a few weeks with each herd of cows before being returned to base near Inverness. The visiting animal is known across the Crofting Counties as The

13:58

25/12/24 - Farming and star gazing in an...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/25

Cranborne Chase National Landscape is an area of outstanding national beauty, which spans the chalk hills of Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Somerset. It's also an International Dark Sky Reserve, the first UK landscape to get this status back in 2019.We visit Marshwood Farm in Dinton which attracts visitors who want a bit of "astro tourism": campers come to stay there because it's a place perfect for star gazing. It's not just astronomers who benefit from darker skies, artificial lighting can be

13:48

24/12/24 - Powerless: the rural community getting...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/24

For 50 years the people living in the Upper Coquet Valley in Northumberland have campaigned to get mains electricity.Living off-grid in one of the most remote areas of England means relying on expensive, dirty diesel generators which often break down and are easily overloaded. But now, a stroke of good fortune means it is finally happening.A cable is being laid up the valley to connect three emergency phone masts to the national grid which means 16 properties, most of them farms, can be connected

12:07

23/12/24 - 'Difficult' Stormont budget for...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/23

The Northern Ireland Executive has published its draft budget for 2025-26 and it’s now open for public consultation. Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs is set to receive just over £715 million pounds, an increase of 3%. But no specific funding has been allocated to address serious pollution in Lough Neagh and Andrew Muir, the environment minister, says his department has only been awarded around a third of what he’d requested for day to day spending. He describes it as ‘a difficult

25:08

21/12/24 - Inheritance tax row, poinsettia troubles...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/21

Carrot and sprout discount wars are in full swing as the supermarkets vie to be the best value for Christmas. While growers acknowledge what's becoming an annual pricing competition can be helpful for hard-up shoppers, they're worried that this sends the wrong messages to consumers.As many as 7.5 million poinsettias are sold in the UK every year, and 4.5 million of them are grown here. But UK poinsettia growers say next year's crop could be under threat from what they call "disproportionate" plant

13:52

20/12/24 - Rural councils warn of tax rises, surplus...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/20

Rural councils are warning that council tax will have to rise and there will be cuts in services, because they say the Government has prioritised urban communities in the recent funding agreement. The County Councils' Network which represents 23 county councils and 13 county unitary authorities says ministers are 'cherry picking' by using a formula based on deprivation, which is targeted towards city and town councils. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government told us the overall

13:51

19/12/24 Christmas veg price wars, woolly crafts,...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/19

Carrot and sprout discount wars are in full swing as the supermarkets vie to be the best value for Christmas. While growers acknowledge what's becoming an annual pricing competition can be helpful for hard-up shoppers, they're worried that this sends the wrong messages to consumers.At this time of year knitters and crocheters are making gifts and natural wool from local sheep is in demand.All this week we are looking at the challenges facing rural pubs and their importance to local communities.

13:52

18/12/24 - Inheritance tax figures, anglers' pub,...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/18

The figures being used by the Treasury to estimate how many farmers will be impacted by changes to inheritance tax could be inaccurate, because of historical advice given by HMRC. That's according to the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers. The Government has introduced 20% inheritance tax on farm assets worth more than a million pounds. Farmers say the change will affect as many as three quarters of them, but the Treasury says data from previous claims for inheritance tax relief suggest

14:09

17/12/24 - Poinsettia troubles, hop farm pub, local...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/17

As many as 7.5 million poinsettias are sold in the UK every year, and 4.5 million of them are grown here. But UK poinsettia growers say next year's crop could be under threat from what they call "disproportionate" plant hygiene rules, which mean crops are being destroyed unnecessarily. They want Government action.We visit a pop-up-pub based on a hop farm, which sells beer made from the hops grown there.And a new Government white paper proposes fundamental changes, with every region of England to get

12:05

16/12/24 TB testing device, rural pubs and community...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/16

Scientists at Cardiff and Aberystwyth Universities have won more than a million pounds worth of funding for a trial which they hope will create a real-time test for bovine TB. The project will use hand-held microwave technology to remove DNA from cattle and badger pooh samples, which will then be tested for bovine TB on the spot. If it works, it'll be a massive boost for farmers across the country, where the disease costs the government alone £150m a year.All week we're looking at rural pubs, it's

24:57

14/12/24 Farming Today This Week: Farmer protests,...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/14

Farmer protests over the Government's proposed changes to inheritance tax have continued this week, with rallies around the country and around 600 tractors making their way into central London on Wednesday. They arrived just as MPs were discussing the issues at the House of Commons' Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee, which was looking at inheritance tax as part of a wider inquiry into the future of farming. Fruit and veg importers say a shortage of government inspectors at ports is

14:04

13/12/2024: Farmers market; environmental impact of...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/13

A traditional farmers' market in the run-up to Christmas where customers can learn tips on how to cook the food that is on offer from the stalls.Using lasers and drones to help measure the impact of farming on the environment; and a prison teaching inmates the basics of agriculture to equip them for a career after custody.Presented by Caz GrahamProduced by Alun Beach

13:47

12/12/24 Farmer protests, Efra inquiry into the...

Farming Today ·

2024/12/12

The chancellor has 'refused to engage' over concerns about the proposed change to inheritance tax on farms - so says the president of the National Farmers Union who was appearing before MPs, just as hundreds of farmers drove their tractors into London to protest about the tax. Farmers gathered in central London and in towns and cities across the country in another protest about changes announced in the autumn budget. The House of Commons Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee opened an

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