Farming Today

New border checks for imports of food and plants coming into the UK from the EU, start 30th April 2024. Some farming groups have been calling for these checks for some time - saying they will give producers here more of a level playing field with EU producers, because UK exports have had similar checks since Brexit. But some importers say inspection costs are prohibitive. We hear from the conference to celebrate the World Organisation for Animal Health's 100th anniversary, where avian flu is on the agenda. And, we’re getting to the time of year where young plants in the field are susceptible to pest damage. Rather than rely on chemicals to fight them off, under the Sustainable Farming Incentive, which is part of England's new farm payment system replacing EU subsidies, farmers can be paid for using "Integrated Pest Management". We visit a farm to hear how it works. Presented by Anna Hill Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

Importers worry new border checks will be unaffordable.

A cider orchard is ripped out because of a fall in cider drinking according to the owners.

Illegal fishing on rivers and watercourses is on up according to the police, who are stepping up patrols with other agencies. Angling clubs pay thousands of pounds every year to stock rivers with fish for members and taking fish without permission is theft. Better training of police in poaching laws has led to a recent spate of convictions and a legal first for volunteer river bailiffs. MPs have highlighted the impact of changes in welfare payments on farmers. Farmers historically claimed tax credits to boost low incomes, but the system has changed and they now apply for Universal Credit. But eligibility is calculated using monthly income and expenditure, which doesn’t sit well with farm businesses where these can vary enormously depending on the season. The transition process has been described as a nightmare which is having an impact on farmers mental health. Around 38 million acres of Ukrainian farmland has now been rendered too dangerous to farm by Russian mines. According to the Mines Advisory Group charity there have been more than a thousand mine accidents in Ukraine since 2022, with farmers making up one of the largest single groups of casualties. From Welsh government plans to get them planted on farms to the ever missed English planting targets and the recent cuts to the budget for planting in Scotland, trees are the subject of much debate in rural areas. All this week we've been discussing trees and despite our fondness for them and need for timber, we still don't like commercial forestry. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Targeting illegal fishing and the danger of landmines for Ukrainian farmers.

The National Sheep Association says it has no confidence in the Red Tractor assurance scheme's executive. MP's have highlighted the impact of the changes in welfare payments on farmers, who historically claim tax credits to boost low incomes. A tree nursery manages to combat the adverse weather conditions, and a breed of cattle found on a remote Scottish island Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Alun Beach

Red Tractor scheme's executive has lost the confidence of the National Sheep Association.

Fishing is a very popular pastime. In England alone, the Environment Agency issued more than 900,000 fishing licenses between March 2022 and April 2023. But illegal fishing on rivers and watercourses is on the up, according to the police, who are stepping up patrols with other agencies. Angling clubs pay thousands of pounds every year to stock rivers with fish for members and taking fish without permission is theft. Better training of police in poaching laws has, however, led to a recent spate of convictions and a legal first for volunteer river bailiffs. A new housing development in Essex is welcoming some new arrivals, but they're not excited home-owners. That’s because houses on the estate at Manningtree come complete with their own flock of sheep and a full-time shepherdess. We’re talking about trees all this week and today it’s the threat to our trees from pests, pathogens and disease. Climate change, pollution, land use change and invasive species are all making trees more vulnerable to pests and diseases, like ash dieback. It was first detected in the UK back in 2012, since then it’s swept across the country with devastating effect on our third most common broad-leaved tree. According to the Woodland Trust, ash dieback will eventually kill up to 80% of ash trees across the UK. Dead trees are dangerous trees, so local authorities are spending millions of pounds managing trees that are deemed unsafe. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

How the authorities are targeting illegal fishing.

The Labour Party has launched a Rural Crime Strategy, saying crime is rising faster in rural than urban areas. Research commissioned by the party, and based on information from the House of Commons Library, shows rural crime has risen by a third since 2011, compared to a rise of 24% in urban areas. Labour says the new Strategy would include increasing rural police presence by 13 thousand community and neighbourhood staff. We hear from the Shadow Policing Minister. In February, we reported that Scotland’s forestry grant scheme was facing a 41% cut, lopping £32 million off the funding to help pay for new woodlands. Two months on, what is it meaning for rural communities? And, deer can strip bark from trees, making them more vulnerable to disease. They can also eat young trees, killing them before they’ve had a chance to grow. DEFRA released its consultation on a Deer Management Strategy back in 2022 - but it still hasn't been published. We look at what it could contain. Presented by Anna Hill Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

A new Rural Crime Strategy from the Labour Party.

Around 38 million acres of Ukrainian farmland has now been rendered too dangerous to farm by Russian mines. According to the charity the "Mines Advisory Group", there have been more than a thousand mine accidents in Ukraine since 2022 - with farmers making up one of the largest single groups of casualties. We hear from the man in charge of clearing land mines there. Farmers can be paid to integrate tree-planting into their farm management plans through Government schemes like Countryside Stewardship. We visit two farmers in the Lake District who are being advised by The Woodland Trust on how trees and food production can go hand in hand. And an environmental charity in Germany, which invests in projects around the world, is donating more than a million euros to re-wet peatlands in England. We speak to NABU about what the UK offers. Presented by Anna Hill Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

Today trees: from Welsh Government plans to get them planted on farms, to the ever missed English planting targets and the recent cuts to the budget for planting in Scotland, trees are the subject of much debate in rural areas. Despite our fondness for them and need for timber, we still don't like commercial forestry. Foresters warn the public's perception is hampering efforts to grow more timber. We get an overview of the state of British woodlands. The Scottish Government wildlife agency NatureScot has been holding advice sessions on wild boar and providing help for farmers and crofters dealing with them. Concerns are growing about the damage they do to grazing areas. It's claimed they kill and eat sheep and lambs, and farmers believe the Government should have taken action years ago. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Wales' new Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs says his first job it to listen to farmers. It comes after unrest and large protests in Wales by farmers, angry about the Welsh Government's approach to farming. In particular, the way its tacking TB in cattle, stricter rules on pollution and the Sustainable Farming Scheme, which will replace EU subsides in Wales and requires farmers to plant trees on 10% of their land. We put their concerns to Huw Irranca-Davies. The UK Government has admitted that it unlawfully issued some licences for releasing game birds last year. The campaign group Wild Justice challenged the licences granted in the Deben Estuary in Suffolk and Breckland in Norfolk. While DEFRA concedes that it didn’t follow Natural England's advice and that the assessment it carried out wasn’t in line with the rules – it strongly refutes Wild Justice's claim that the decisions 'were tainted with the appearance of bias'. And we visit a farm in Herefordshire where they rear tens of thousands of worms to sell for live bird feed, for improving the soil, and for composting. Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

Most UK dairy farms are failing to meet environmental regulations aimed at protecting rivers from pollution; so says the campaign group River Action which has used freedom of information requests to find new data. It says dairy farms are one of the biggest causes of river pollution. The National Farmers' Union says farmers are getting better. Companies importing food to the UK say the Government's plans to bring in physical checks for food coming from the EU is going to lead to higher prices, and eventually less choice. All this week we're talking about diversification, and for farms which are near towns or cities attracting visitors onto the land can be profitable. We hear how a Devon farm has diversified into Halloween pumpkins. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The Government has admitted that it unlawfully issued some licences for releasing game birds last year. The campaign group Wild Justice challenged the licences granted in the Deben Estuary in Suffolk and Breckland in Norfolk, saying that ministers had ignored the advice from the wildlife regulator Natural England, and that a proper assessment of the impact hadn't been carried out. By law under the Habitats Directive there must be an assessment of the impact of any release near Special Protected Areas, and advice from Natural England must be taken into account for a licence to be granted. While Defra concedes that it didn’t follow Natural England's advice and that the assessment it carried out wasn’t in line with the rules, it strongly refutes Wild Justice's claim that the decisions 'were tainted with the appearance of bias'. A new assessment of the UK vegetable oil harvest has been made and found that oilseed rape production this year could be reduced by as much as 38% compared to last year, partly due to less area planted but also because of the wet weather. Added to that, production of olives in Southern Europe is also facing climate challenges, and the price of olive oil has shot up. Some farmers coping with challenging weather will be thankful if they have income from a diversification on the farm. All week we're hearing how farms are running extra businesses alongside their core work. Tens of thousands of worms might not be the first thing you’d think of to help a traditional farm survive. But near Hereford, the Gorringe family have set up a sideline which is helping prop up their arable and beef business. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

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.

Changes have been made to the UK Government's Farming Recovery Fund after the NFU reported "major issues" with the scheme. The Fund was announced back in January, to provide up to £25,000 to farmers affected by Storm Henck to go towards repairs to their land. Four months later, this week the Government opened that fund to applications...and almost immediately some farmers reported problems... We are still in the midst of the worst Avian Flu outbreak we have ever seen - the highly infectious strain of the virus has reached every continent except Australia. Now, dairy cows on several farms in the USA have been infected with bird flu and a farm worker there has also tested positive. We hear from a virologist about what it could mean for farmers here. And who should decide whether an area of land is of such great environmental importance it should be given legal protection? Currently, it's the Government’s advisor for the natural environment "Natural England", which has the power to designate Sites of Special Scientific Interest. But a group of Conservative MPs wants that to change - with the final decision being made by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs instead. Presented by Caz Graham Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons