Farming Today Folgen

A total wipe-out of crops is now a possibility for some farms - it follows the record rainfall over recent months. Crops on thousands of acres of highly productive land have been destroyed and even now fields are too boggy for machinery to harvest or plant crops for the months ahead. So what impact will this have on our fresh produce supply chains?Tenant farmers "can't be left to go by the wayside" - that's the message from the NFU Tenant Farmer Conference. English farmers who rent some - or all - of the land they work face many challenges at the moment. From landlords taking land back for solar farms or the ELMs environmental schemes, to rising rents and the phasing out of subsidy payments under the basic payments scheme or BPS.And we visit a former dairy farm where cattle barns have been turned into a microbrewery, a taproom and a wedding venue.Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

After farmers held protest against post-Brexit agricultural policy in Wales, is the new Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs ready for the challenge? In his first interview for the programme, Anna Hill asks him about the 10% tree policy, how they plan to tackle bovine TB and whether they're doing enough to clean up Welsh rivers.The Government has published its long awaited River Wye Action Plan, which includes the doubling of grants for farm slurry stores and up to £35 million worth of funding for poultry manure combustors. Campaigners say the river is in an ‘ecological death spiral’ and blame the spreading of manure from intensive chicken farming onto fields in the catchment, resulting in pollution going into the river. Research led by Lancaster University showed that 70% of the excess phosphate in the Wye, comes from agricultural waste.And many farms have ventured into retail and hospitality in the hope of selling some of their produce direct to customers. We visit a farm which has gone one step further, and as well as having a farm shop, butchery and cafe, it also rents farm buildings to other small businesses.Presented by Anna Hill Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

Changes to farm support payments after Brexit, increasingly unpredictable weather, not to mention a cost of living crisis means farmers are relying more on additional income streams to boost their farm profits. We’re going to be looking into farm diversifications all this week, and while you might think the most common sources of extra income would be accommodation for tourists and things like farm shops, in fact letting out buildings for businesses and producing solar energy were the top two diversifications in 2022 - 23, according to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. It's an election year and the controversial topic of hunting is being raised again; the Labour Party has vowed to ban hunting with dogs completely in their first 5 years of government. Fox hunting’s been banned in England, Wales and Scotland for twenty years now, but hunting groups are allowed to lay a ‘scent trail’ for hounds to chase. Trail hunting is controversial, with some hunts accused of using it as a smokescreen for hunting foxes. Just last month one hunt member in Wiltshire was sentenced for helping throw a live fox to hounds, and a different hunt, in Warwickshire, was charged over the alleged death of a fox. But a leading wildlife campaigner and hunt saboteur says he thinks one hunt in Sussex is now paving the way for how trail hunting could be done around the country in a pared down and more open way. New varieties of organic hops that are resilient to climate change are being trialled by British beer makers. The Innovative Farmers Hop Trial aims to boost the cultivation of UK crops after falling production levels.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.