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Farming Today

BBC Radio 4

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

science

All Episodes

11:36

26/02/24 Welsh farmers welcoming a greener farming...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/26

The BBC has been told that farmers in Wales who support overhauling their subsidies to help the environment feel "intimidated" and afraid to speak out. It comes as some farmers are staging protests across Wales over plans for a greener post-Brexit funding scheme for agriculture, which farming unions say is unworkable. But the Nature Friendly Farming Network, representing around 500 farmers in Wales, told BBC Wales that sticking to "business as usual" would not help the industry succeed in the long

13:25

23/02/24 Farmer protests in Wales: Lesley Griffiths;...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/23

As farmer protests continue in Wales the Rural Affairs Minister tells us she is listening.We've spent all week talking about farming's next generation and as with most family businesses, many farmers hope at least one of their children will want to take over. But if you’ve got three kids who all want to stay, it might prove hard for all of them to make a living.Anna Hill meets Minette Batters who stood down this week as President of the National Farmers' Union. Having been the most influential woman

13:14

22/02/24 NFU Conference: Political hustings and a new...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/22

Politicians have been setting out their stall to farmers at the NFU Conference in Birmingham. With a general election on the horizon, we hear from all three main political parties: Conservative farming minister Mark Spencer; shadow environment minister Daniel Zeichner; and Liberal Democrat spokesperson on environment, Tim Farron.We also speak to the NFU's new president - Tom Bradshaw.Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

13:24

21/02/24 NFU Conference: Prime Minister makes a raft...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/21

1500 farmers from across England and Wales have gathered in Birmingham for the National Farmers' Union annual conference. President Minette Batters is standing down after six years at the helm, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told farmers "I've got your back". He arrived with a raft of announcements including an annual national food security index, measuring the amount of food grown in the UK, a review of transparency in the poultry supply chain, an annual "farm to fork" summit in Downing Street,

13:18

20/02/24 Farmer Protests; Prime Minister's funding...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/20

The First Minister of Wales says it shouldn't be up to farmers to decide how subsidy money is spent. Mark Drakeford was responding to the ongoing farmer protests in Wales over the Sustainable Farm Scheme. It will see direct subsidy payments phased out and farmers will have to plant 10% of their land with trees while putting a further 10% into wildlife habitats to qualify. We also speak to English farmers protesting at Dover. The government is giving a £220 million funding package to English farmers

11:30

19/02/2024

Farming Today ·

2024/02/19

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

24:59

17/02/24 Farming Today This Week: N.I.'s new minister...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/17

The return of the Northern Ireland Assembly means there's a new man in charge at the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, or DAERA. We speak to Andrew Muir about his priorities.After leaving the EU, the four nations of the UK have decided on different payment systems for farmers. In England the Environmental Land Management Scheme, or ELMS, has several parts to it. The Sustainable Farming Incentive or SFI is part of that. It pays farmers for doing environmental work, like

13:34

16/02/24 Small abattoir closure, farm training courses

Farming Today ·

2024/02/16

Another small abattoir has announced it’s to close its doors for good. McIntyre Meats in Bainbridge in the Yorkshire Dales has been working with local farmers for the last 23 years and is just the latest small abattoir to decide to call it a day. Between 2018 and 2022 the number of small abattoirs processing red meat dropped by a quarter according to DEFRA. Right now in the Cotswolds, a group of farmers are trying to raise three million pounds to save Long Compton Abattoir from closure by buying it

13:26

15/02/24 Green land investment in Scotland and its...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/15

In the Scottish Highlands, rewilding and planting trees for carbon capture are increasingly attractive for big new landowners, but what impacts do these activities, taking over vast tracts of the countryside, have on the communities around them? A report for the Scottish Government tries to quantify those impacts and not all are positive. We visit affected communities and speak to the author of a new report.All week we've been looking at the business side of farming. According to DEFRA, 69% of farm

13:31

14/02/24 Environmental payments to farms - details of...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/14

As more farmers take up payments to farm in a more environmentally-friendly way, will that mean growing less food? After leaving the EU, the four nations of the UK have decided on different payment systems for farmers. In England, the Environmental Land Management Scheme, or ELMS, has several parts to it - the simplest being the Sustainable Farming Incentive or SFI. Some farmers said there was little incentive to sign up, because payments to do environmental work were too low. However, in January

13:38

13/02/24 Northern Ireland's new DAERA minister; NI...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/13

After two years without a government, Northern Ireland's got a minister for agriculture and the environment again. We speak to Andrew Muir, who's just started his new job at DAERA - the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. His in-tray is bulging with a raft of issues: farming subsidy changes, environmental concerns and bovine TB, among other things. Anna Hill speaks to the Ulster Farmers' Union about what they want from the new minister, and also to Northern Ireland Environment

11:11

12/02/24 Biodiversity Net Gain not ambitious enough,...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/12

Today Biodiversity Net Gain becomes the law in England. It means that any developer building ten or more homes must not just replace the biodiversity they've destroyed, but have to show a 10% net gain over what was there before. The net gain can be on the housing estate, or builders can buy a biodiversity unit from a landowner. If that's not possible they can get a (more expensive) biodiversity credit from the Government, which will then invest in habitat projects across the nation. Wherever it

24:50

10/02/24 Farming Today This Week: Protests in Wales;...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/10

Farming leaders in Wales have warned of "huge unrest" over planned Welsh government reforms to farm support payments, claiming mass protests are now "more or less inevitable". The Welsh government has urged farmers to participate in a consultation on their plans - which would require farms to have 10% tree cover and manage a further 10% of their land as wildlife habitat in order to access funding in future. Scotland's farmers will continue receiving most of their existing subsidies for growing

13:12

09/02/2024 NFU Scotland Conference, Cumbrian...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/09

Farmers in Scotland want to see cuts to the Holyrood agriculture budget reversed and an extra billion pounds worth of funding to farmers across the country from the UK Government. Both issues were raised yesterday at the NFU Scotland conference that’s taking place just now in Glasgow. National Farmers Union Scotland members are expecting to be joined by First Minister Humza Yousaf this morning. He’ll be joined by Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Mairi Gougeon, for what may well be a

13:07

08/02/24 Morecambe Bay cockle picking tragedy:...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/08

This week marks 20 years since the Morecambe Bay cockling disaster. 23 Chinese migrants lost their lives after getting cut off by the Bay’s notoriously fast flowing tide while gathering cockles. Those who drowned were found to have been illegally smuggled into the country and were working as forced labour for criminal gangmasters. The tragedy paved the way for the creation of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority in 2005 and to this day, anyone supplying workers into the shellfish sector, and into

13:29

07/02/2043 Transition to net zero and farmers'...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/07

Protests by European farmers have sparked a wider debate across the UK, about whether farmers here might be tempted away from growing food, by payments for environmental work. We hear from farmers concerned about how environmental policies are affecting food security. We also speak to Professor Tim Benton, Research Director of the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House who says a clear strategy for food, environment and trade is the key to enabling sustainability in the food chain, and how

13:49

06/02/2024 Rural domestic abuse, Microplastics in...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/06

One in three women, and one in five men in the UK are affected by domestic abuse according to a recent National Rural Crime Network report - it also found that rural victims of domestic abuse tend to suffer for 25% longer than those in urban areas because of geographical isolation and barriers to accessing help and support. We hear from one woman in rural North Wales where she was the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her ex-partner, who is now in prison. The presence of microplastics in

11:21

05/02/2024 Trees burnt after budget cuts, funding...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/05

A forester from Moray in North East Scotland says he may have to destroy millions of trees after the Scottish Government slashed the budget for new tree planting. Ronald Christie from Fochabers says unless ministers change their mind, ten million young trees will have to be burnt followed by a similar number next year. The Small Robot Company were hailed as the future of small-scale automation for UK farmers. But in May last year their major investor withdrew its funding. They did find another and

25:01

03/02/2024 Farming Today This Week : Farmers'...

Farming Today ·

2024/02/03

All week across Europe farmers have been protesting. In France convoys of tractors blocked roads into Paris, in Brussels campaigners blockaded the streets, threw eggs and started fires. The European Commission and national governments have made some concessions to try and address the farmers' concerns over environmental rules, competition from cheaper imports and taxes on agricultural fuel.. We speak to the President of Copa, one half of Copa Cogeca, which represents millions of farmers and farming

13:28

02/02/24 UK farmer protests? Fish trade with the EU.

Farming Today ·

2024/02/02

All this week across Europe farmers have been protesting. They are angry about environmental rules, competition from cheaper imports and taxes on agricultural fuel. But here in the UK, no big protests - yet? We've been looking at trade and today it's fish. We import 80% of the fish we eat, but we also export 80% of the fish we catch. It seems we’re not very interested in eating our own domestic species. So how is trade going for the smaller fishing boats around the UK coast, which are trying to sell

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