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Farming Today

BBC Radio 4

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

science

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25:01

31/08/2024: TB controls; flood relief for farmers;...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/31

The government unveils its new approach to controlling TB in cattle which includes ending badger culls in the future.Thousands of farmers who were promised financial help after the devastating floods of last winter have still not been paid.This year’s harvest has been anything but straightforward, not just wet weather but high fertiliser costs and infection from fungus have all caused difficulties. Which means many arable farmers are facing poorer yields than normal and so less financial reward.The

13:58

30/08/2024 Bluetongue outbreaks, tea harvest, oilseed...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/30

Four cases of bluetongue have now been confirmed in sheep on farms in Norfolk and Suffolk. The virus, which is spread by biting midges blown into the UK from northern Europe, is currently widespread in the Netherlands with further cases in Germany and Belgium. As well as sheep, it affects cattle, goats, deer and camelids but not humans, nor does it pose any risk to the food chain. Harvest is in full swing for many farmers and we’ve been seeing how it’s going all week. In Cornwall on the Tregothnan

13:59

23/08/2024: Brian May and his bTB film; Seaweed and...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/29

An interview with the global rock star and animal welfare campaigner Sir Brian May who is presenting a programme on BBC 2 about Bovine TB and badgers: ‘Brian May: The Badgers, the Farmers and Me’.Car y Mor is a community owned seaweed and shellfish business, which is providing year round work in an area where most jobs are seasonal.Presented by Caz GrahamProduced by Alun Beach

14:11

29/08/2024: Nature in Scotland; a saskatoon berry;...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/29

Ministers in the Holyrood Parliament are being urged to introduce legislation which sets legally binding targets to protect and restore Scotland's nature. A new variety of fruit the saskatoon, a small purple-blue coloured berry that is native to Canada, has been hailed as a super-berry. It is high in antioxidants, fibre and Vitamin C as well as low in sugar, and now is grown in Scotland. Growers have just two and a half hours to get their peas from the field to the freezer to stop them from losing

14:02

28/08/2024: Beef production, artificial meat, oilseed...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/28

Beef production across the UK is down, but the demand is steady or rising. Should farmers be worried about imports taking over their market?And what about alternative forms of protein, such as artificial meat? Research into this and other possibilities has been given a boost by the establishment of a new research group, costing £38 million.And riding along in a combine harvester as it takes in this year’s crop of oilseed rape.Presented by Anna HillProduced by Alun Beach

13:53

27/08/2024: Flooding; harvest time; fly-tipping

Farming Today ·

2024/08/27

Farmers flooded earlier in the year are still waiting eight months on for government grants they have claimed to clear up.It’s a challenging harvest for farmers across the country because of the wet weather, and yields are down.The National Farmers Union says as many as half of farmers have been affected by fly-tipping, which is a blight on the countryside and can cost farmers a lot of money to clear up.Presented by Caz GrahamProduced by Alun Beach

11:58

26/08/24 "Mama Hen" the woman who rescues factory...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/26

Northern Ireland's 'Mama Hen'Thirteen years ago, Barbara Mladek gave up her full time job as a bank executive to run a hen rescue centre in Northern Ireland. She says it is now her life's mission to rescue and re-home as many battery hens as she can. She is so obsessed with hens, that she has changed her own name by deed poll to 'Mama Hen'. Barbara also rescues abandoned hens, ducks, geese and turkeys. Her centre is run as a charity and relies entirely on donations. Over the years, she and a small

24:42

24/08/2024 Farming Today This Week: Border controls,...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/24

Businesses that import meat could have to pay up to six times more than they were expecting to get each lorry through border checks; that’s according to the British Meat Processors Association. Since April businesses that import through Dover and the Eurotunnel through Folkestone have been paying what’s called a Common User Charge.Bracken is a large and very prolific fern, and it can be a big problem for farmers, particularly in the uplands. It eats into grazing land, it harbours ticks and it’s

14:06

22/08/2024: Meat imports; bracken controls; fishing...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/22

Businesses that import meat, both fresh and processed, could have to pay up to six times more than they were expecting to get each lorry through border checks, according to the British Meat Processors Association.Bracken is a large and very prolific fern, and it can be a big problem for farmers, particularly in the uplands. It eats into grazing land, it harbours ticks and it is difficult to control.Mallaig on the west coast of Scotland, around 40 miles north of Fort William, used to be a major

14:13

21/08/2024: Curlews; crofting; fishing

Farming Today ·

2024/08/21

Drones are being used to seek out and protect curlew nests from predators and farm work.The Scottish Government is consulting on ways to simplify the rules on crofting, it hopes to strengthen the rules around croft tenancy, and to get more people onto crofts. Fishing industry bodies in Cornwall have been working to ensure a younger generation of fishermen have the relevant skills to maintain fishing’s position in the county. Presented by Anna HillProduced by Alun Beach

13:56

20/08/2024: Methane emissions; tourism; AI in farming

Farming Today ·

2024/08/20

A university study shows that feeding willow to cattle in the outdoors along with their usual diet of grass can reduce methane emissions significantly.For many tourism is a vital industry but it is one which can come at a cost. On one hand, bolstering economic growth, on the other draining life out of a community, with second homes and holiday lets pricing out locals.And AI or Artificial Intelligence is used in so many aspects of our lives now, and it is also being used more and more to help produce

11:36

19/08/24 - Biodiversity net gain, growing confetti...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/19

‘Green finance’ has become a bit of a buzz word for conservation groups and land managers who want to tap into private money to fund nature recovery. But there are barriers for smaller farmers who want to get involved. Wiltshire Wildlife Trust has just been awarded nearly a hundred thousand pounds by Natural England to try and tackle that by working with farmers to help them become “investment ready”.Is this the UK's most romantic field? A farm in Essex has diversified into growing flowers confetti

24:38

17/08/2024: Wildfires; drought; craft skills; UK...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/17

After all the wet weather this year there is talk of both drought and wildfires. Two separate reports out this week have highlighted the threat that they pose to people and the environment, both in the UK and further afield.The Shropshire and Herefordshire countryside is peppered with traditional farmhouses and cottages dating back hundreds of years, homeowners are being taught the skills to maintain them for the future.Plant breeders are worried that UK border rules mean new seed varieties, which

13:57

16/08/24 National Grid "bulldozes" crops, bluetongue...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/16

How pylons ruined a harvest: a Suffolk farmer speaks of his frustration after National Grid dug up his field, two days before a barley crop was due to be harvested.Bluetongue virus is on the rise. With more cases affecting livestock in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, the Chief Vet is warning farmers here to be extra vigilant. 20 years ago, Salih Hodzhov left Bulgaria to work as a picker on a fruit farm in Kent. He is now the Chief Operating Officer for one of the UK's biggest fruit farming

13:42

15/08/2024: Drought; wildfires; Dry stone walls

Farming Today ·

2024/08/15

After all the wet weather this year, there is talk of both drought and wildfires this week. Two separate reports published this week have highlighted the threat they pose to people and the environment, both in the UK and further afield.Dry stone walls are an integral part of our landscape from Orkney to Cornwall. It is estimated that there are about 180,000 miles of them - but that as many as 85% are in need of repair.Presented by Charlotte SmithProduced by Alun Beach

13:52

14/08/2024: Organic oilseed rape; Thatched buildings;...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/14

Farmers this year are growing less oilseed rape than they have for the last 30 years. That is partly due to the expense of growing it, the dreadful wet weather preventing crops getting established, and the fact that it succumbs to the Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle. A group in Scotland however are growing it organically - so how do they do it?Thatched buildings are a common sight in many rural areas, but a shortage of seasonal labour, materials and outdated machinery are some of the modern-day challenges

14:00

13/08/2024: UK border rules; traditional craft...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/13

Plant breeders are worried that UK border rules mean new seed varieties, which need to be trialled in fields in England, are being delayed.The Shropshire and Herefordshire countryside is peppered with traditional farmhouses and cottages dating back hundreds of years, and homeowners are being taught the skills to maintain them for the future.Farmers across the UK are still counting the cost of the long wet winter as they start to bring in a record low harvest of grain.Presented by Anna HillProduced

12:03

12/08/24 Grouse shooting; Berry glut; Rural skills

Farming Today ·

2024/08/12

The Moorland Association says the wet weather this year means it will be the worst grouse season for decades. Some shoots won't have a single day's shooting because there aren't enough birds. High rainfall during the nesting period means has had a big impact on red grouse. In turn, the association says there'll be far fewer seasonal jobs, and it'll have a big impact on local businesses which rely on the income shooting brings. Fruit farmers in Kent are facing a glut of strawberries. The crop's all

25:02

10/08/2024: Mental health; Bovine TB; Timber and...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/10

A BBC Local Radio 24 hour farming event to encourage young farmers to support each other with their mental health.Farmer led badger vaccination could be a way forward in eradicating TB in cattle, a study of a four year pilot programme in Cornwall says that it has seen the percentage of badgers testing positive for TB drop from 16% to zero. Timber is an issue here in the UK, we import more than 80% of the wood we use and there are calls for far more of that to be home grown. In the south of Scotland

14:17

09/08/2024 Woodland report, Rewilding forests, Donkey...

Farming Today ·

2024/08/08

The latest comprehensive survey of woodland across Scotland, Wales and England has just been published. The Bunce report first carried out woodland surveys across 103 woods, back in 1971. They were revisited in 2001, and the third and last survey of the same sites in 2021, has now been published by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Some of the things that have changed: there are now fewer larger trees, but diseases like ash dieback and Dutch elm disease have created gaps in the canopy;

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