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Farming Today

BBC Radio 4

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

science

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14:13

20/08/2025 Funding for rural councils, spinach,...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/19

County councils say major changes to the way the government calculates funding for local authorities will penalise rural areas. The government says the new system will mean fairer funding and more stability which will help deliver better public services. However the County Councils Network says rural council tax payers will ‘shoulder the burden’ of redistributing hundreds of millions of pounds to urban areas and warn some councils will face deep cuts to their services. Growing spinach in the soaring

13:59

19/08/2025 Bluetongue restrictions in Wales, border...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/19

Changes to bluetongue restrictions mean farmers can transport vaccinated livestock from Wales into England without the need for a costly pre-movement test. Sheep and cattle that have been jabbed can be taken to a market within 12 miles of the Welsh border such as Hereford, Ludlow and Oswestry. Since the start of July, trade in livestock between England and Wales has been affected by restrictions designed to stop the spread of bluetongue disease. The midge-borne virus poses no threat to public

13:56

15/08/25: Rural buses, feeding lions, Inheritance tax...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/18

MPs have told the Government 'ambitious action' is needed to improve bus services in rural England. The Transport Committee suggests rural weighting to give more money to councils in the countryside where it is more expensive to run services, along with a minimum service guarantee so communities can rely on regular buses. The Campaign To Protect Rural England tells us that poor public transport is one factor holding back growth in the rural economy. Our exploration of ways to find markets for less

11:58

18/08/2025: Crop prices, frozen trees, the UK salad...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/18

Could a tough autumn lie ahead for UK arable farmers after 3 difficult years in a row? Sliding prices, difficult weather conditions, and a range of pressures have led to low confidence. The National Farmers Union's Combinable Crops Board chair tells us he's heard from once forward-looking farmers now considering their exit strategy. One factor causing concern is the Government's decision last week not to put forward a rescue package for the UK bioethanol, green fuel, industry. Also in the programme,

24:36

16/08/25 Farming Today This Week: shooting licenses...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/16

Salted pig's trotter? Brains on toast? Why the carcass balance is important to farmers. We like steak but we're not so keen on tripe, and we eat a lot of chicken but not the feet. To both reduce waste and get the best price for the whole animal or bird we need to do something with the offal. This is carcass balance, balancing the sale of the popular bits with finding markets for the bits that are less desirable here. Those parts that can't be sold are sent for rendering, using heat to separate

14:04

14/08/25 Game bird shooting licences and avian...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/14

Shooting clubs on Salisbury Plain say they may have to close because they can't get a licence to release game birds. Clubs near protected areas, like Sites of Special Scientific Interest, now need a special licence from Natural England to release birds like pheasants and that's now harder to get because of the threat of bird flu. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation or BASC says the licensing system is legally flawed and it's issued legal proceedings against Natural England. However

13:57

12/08/25 Pig rules, drought, carcass use

Farming Today ·

2025/08/13

New rules to make trade fairer for pig producers come in today. A series of recent difficulties in the industry revealed that many farmers didn't have proper contracts for their stock. The new system aims to change that.The dry weather continues, with heat alerts out for all of England. It can be a problem for farmers, not only immediately, but for crops just establishing now to be harvested in Autumn or Winter. We speak to a pumpkin farmer who needs his crops to be ready at Halloween. All this

14:19

12/08/25 Dairy exports to Egypt, eating all the pig,...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/12

The government's announced a trade deal with Egypt which it says could be worth £250 million in dairy exports ports over the next five years. As part of the deal, new regulations around the Halal certification of dairy produce going into Egypt will not be applied, avoiding what would have been a costly trade barrier. Finding a market for every part of an animal, not just the popular cuts like bacon and steak, is known as carcass balance and it’s something we’re talking about all this week. We

11:48

110825: environmental payments, meat carcass use

Farming Today ·

2025/08/11

Farmers say they may have to plough up land currently managed for nature as the scheme that pays them isn't working. Thousands of countryside stewardship agreements come to an end this year, and applications for the replacement haven't opened yet. The Nature Friendly Farming Network is asking the government to roll over the current schemes to give farmers some certainty.All this week we're looking at 'carcass balance' - using more of the animal's carcass to avoid waste. In the past the consumers in

24:52

09/08/25 Harvest 2025 - from barley and peas, to...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/09

Harvest is the highlight of the farming calendar but this summer's harvest is one of contrasts. It's a good year for some crops like oil seed rape but for others yields are down. We take stock of the crops - from barley and peas to cherries and sweetcorn.Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

14:08

08/08/25 Heather burning and wildfires, cherry...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/08

Scottish gamekeepers may refuse to help tackle wildfires in a dispute over licences for muirburn. Muirburn is the controlled burning of heather and other vegetation to encourage new growth, mostly to raise game birds for shooting. It takes place from autumn to spring, but from January next year it will be licensed and it will be an offence to carry out any burning without a licence. Gamekeepers say controlled burning reduces the amount of dead vegetation which fuels wildfires and if they can't do

14:03

07/08/25 Farmwatch: a celebration of farming across...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/07

Farmwatch will see farms take over BBC local radio in England today. It's a celebration of farming and a chance to hear from rural communities across the country. It's happening at one of the busiest times of the year for many farmers - harvest, and as part of our week-long focus on harvest we speak to a farmer in Lincolnshire who's growing corn on the cob.Presenter = Charlotte SmithProducer = Rebecca Rooney

13:56

06/08/25 Parasite control, barn owls, pea harvest

Farming Today ·

2025/08/06

The British Veterinary Association is urging farmers to avoid treating livestock for parasites unnecessarily. The say blanket treatments of worming medicines can lead to resistance and have an impact on the environment.Conservationists in the south east are reporting a drop in the number of barn owl chicks being raised, they say it's the worst breeding season they've seen for decades. All week we're following the harvest around the country, pea producers say this year's crop is down by a quarter

13:48

05/08/25 Egg imports and salmonella concerns, plum...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/05

The egg industry is calling for better labelling of products using imported eggs, and for all imports of eggs and egg products to be checked at the border. The British Egg Industry Council says there's been a rise in imports and they're concerned that eggs contaminated with salmonella are not being picked up. Plums used to be a big crop for British farms back in the 1960s, but over the decades the amount grown here has fallen dramatically. However, one farm in Kent believes the tide is turning. WB

11:43

04/08/25 Harvest and the impact of this year's dry...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/04

It's been a tricky year for many farmers this year with extremes of drought and rain at various times - usually the wrong times. All week we'll see how harvest 2025 is shaping up. We start with barley in East Anglia and a dairy farm in Wiltshire, and find out from a cereals analyst how crops are looking across the board.Presenter = Charlotte SmithProducer = Rebecca Rooney

24:47

02/08/25: Coping With Downpour And Drought,...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/02

Farmers are having to cope with too much water, or too little, more and more often due to the effects of climate change. This week Charlotte Smith explores how farmers can strike a balance on their land, with competing pressures for water including crops, homes, and wildlife. And, campaigners against Government plans to reintroduce Inheritance Tax on farms worth over £1 million found an unlikely ally in President Trump this week. But with the Government showing no sign of changing course, how

14:06

01/08/25 Impact of war on Ukraine farmland, river...

Farming Today ·

2025/08/01

Half a million pounds is going from the UK Government to a project aiming to improve soils in Ukraine. The ongoing research, being run by the Royal Agricultural University, has identified significant damage to soils from the war there - things like heavy metal contamination from bombardments. The new money will help set up soil labs. We speak to the professor leading it and a farmer in Ukraine.Small changes in the way a river catchment is managed can have a big impact - reconnecting floodplains,

14:01

31/07/25 Bioethanol, managing water in the Norfolk...

Farming Today ·

2025/07/31

The bioethanol company Vivergo says it will take in its last consignment of grain tomorrow, before it stops production at its plant near Hull - unless the UK government steps into help. It says this is because of the US UK trade deal which came into force last month, allowing up to 1.4 billion litres of tax-free bioethanol from the States.How's water managed in the Norfolk Broads? We look at the system of pumping stations and drainage ditches which helps balance the competing demands of water of

14:05

30/07/25: Climate Threat to Fruit and Veg Imports,...

Farming Today ·

2025/07/30

The UK is heavily reliant on fruit and vegetables grown overseas. But a new report predicts that, by 2050, around half of fruit and veg imports to the UK will be affected by climate change risks including rising temperatures and diminishing water supplies. Water management is such a burning topic at the moment that the NFU has just held its first Water Summit on a Yorkshire farm. And, how do you incentivise reintroduced Beavers to shape rivers the way you intend?Presenter: Anna HillProducer: Sarah

14:04

29/07/25 Water management, agricultural chaplain,...

Farming Today ·

2025/07/29

As the NFU hosts an on-farm water summit, we find out more about an innovative project in Shropshire to manage water. It aims to prevent excess run-off from urban areas which floods farmland and destroys crops.Out and about with the Agricultural Chaplain for Suffolk who's helping farmers cope with the pressures of running a farm business. He says they're especially concerned about changes to inheritance tax reform.Scientists are working with farmers to find a high-tech way of tackling one of the

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