Farming Today

The English Uplands are special and defined as areas of elevated land with rugged terrain from moorlands to mountains and typically above 300 metres. A new report "Towards a Flourishing Uplands: Phase 1" has called for more local decision making with a shift away top down directives. Dr Hilary Cottam lead the independent review for Defra. She's published 19 insights which she says, will help meet challenges faced by those who farm the land, as well as the demands of nature, the rural economy and communities. Dr Cottam spent time walking and talking in the uplands, from Devon to North Yorkshire, to find out what people really think of the current state of affairs, what they want for the future and how those visions differ. All this week here on Farming Today we've been looking at National Parks. The Peak District National Park was the first one and is 75. Local people have been a huge part of the Park since it was established thanks to a mass trespass on Kinder Scout, and local volunteers are vital to it today, helping restore paths, plant trees and maintain access for everyone to enjoy its beauty. Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

New research suggests that dredging is affecting water quality in Lough Neagh. Scientists from Queen's University Belfast believe that commercial dredging for sand which is widespread across the Lough has a deeper more harmful impact on ecosystems than originally thought. Serious concerns have been raised about weaknesses at Northern Ireland's Agri-food and Bio-sciences Institute. A report from the Health and Safety Executive highlighted issues with bio containment and the condition of the facilities. AFBI is an arm's length government body which carries out scientific research and also testing for diseases like bluetongue. The HSE report said that at the time of the inspection that testing was unsafe, with measures required to protect the environment. The Institute says action has been taken to 'to drive improvements and address all issues raised.' All this week we’ve been hearing from our National Parks, and today is the turn of Northumberland, covering much of Hadrian’s Wall and the vast Cheviot Hills, it sells itself as home to England’s cleanest rivers and darkest skies. It’s also the least visited and one of the most remote of the National Parks in England and Wales. Rural churches are a hotspot for theft and vandalism according to a new report from the Countryside Alliance. It got data from 37 police forces across the UK which shows that last year nearly 4,000 crimes at churches were recorded, in urban and rural areas, however it says churches in villages and countryside areas are particularly vulnerable. Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Farmers in Northern Ireland have been holding tractor protests and blocking traffic. They’re asking for more financial help as they face rising fuel prices. The government in the Republic of Ireland has told farmers there, that 100 million euros are being made available to support them. The huge rises in fuel costs since the war in the Middle East, may be putting pressure on households across the UK, but farmers say their costs are being pushed so high, they could be facing a crisis for their businesses. The Country, Land and Business Association, the CLA, has revealed it made two bogus applications for licensed waste carrying. Businesses can apply for these licences and then charge people to take away their rubbish. The CLA made the applications to prove the system is flawed, one application was made on behalf of a cow called Beau Vine and another for a fictitious character called Laurie Load, both were approved by the online system, with no checks. National Parks are celebrating 75 years of existence and we're talking about them all week. Today, we’re heading to the Black Mountains in Bannau Bryceiniog or the Brecon Beacons as it's also known, where a peat land restoration project is making a big difference to the landscape. Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Prices are starting to increase for the plastic wrap and twine that farmers will need to store grass silage feed through the year. Plastic is made using fossil fuel, which is increasing in price as a result of the war in Iran. We speak to Jack Cordery of Mole Valley Farmers who says supplies are already starting to tighten. With prices for fertiliser also rising because of the war, there are fears that a new carbon tax coming in in January could make things worse for farmers importing it. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism - or CBAM - will add import tax to products manufactured with less strict emissions regulations than we have in the UK. Jo Gilbertson of the Agricultural Industries Confederation says producers or importers who use lower emission fertiliser will not be penalised as much. All this week we're celebrating the UK's National Parks. Today we're in Dartmoor in Devon which has a wealth of treasures under the ground, with archaeological remains of international significance. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sally Challoner.

War in the Middle East has led to price shocks in fertiliser and fuel for farmers. The situation puts a sharper focus on products already being developed to reduce reliance on imported fertiliser. We hear about two innovations: granular fertiliser produced from byproducts including incinerated chicken droppings, and a fertiliser using nutrients extracted from human urine which is being trialled in a project to grow native trees in Wales. And, we're touring some of the UK's National Parks this week. Today, efforts to conserve the iconic and charismatic Capercaillie in the Cairngorms National Park. Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Sarah Swadling

In a week that has seen several wildfires break out across the country, we hear from Dr Matthew Jones, who leads a group researching wildfires across the globe. He explains to Charlotte Smith why the risk of wildfires is so high in the Spring months. We also hear from a farmer still dealing with the aftermath of wildfires last year. The impact of the Iran conflict has led to government concerns about a potential shortage of CO2 - an important ingredient in many food and drink production processes. In response, the government has awarded a £100 million pound grant to the Ensus factory at Redcar to re-start production after it was mothballed last year. The plant produces bioethanol, CO2 and animal feed from wheat and maize. However, the National Farmers’ Union are concerned that “the £100m investment from government is not conditional on Ensus using British wheat”. Caz Graham speaks to Grant Pearson, the chairman of Ensus. As many farmers are continuing or starting to plant Spring crops for harvest later in the year, we hear from the AHDB about how this year's Spring cereal and oilseed drilling is progressing across the country. We also visit a project in Cumbria doing a different type of planting: using a drone to plant a crop of on wet peatland, known as Paludiculture. With fields of bright yellow oilseed rape coming into bloom across the country, one grower tells us why more farmers have been planting the crop this year compared to last. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Jo Peacey. A BBC Audio Bristol production.

The Derbyshire Fire Service is urging people to take more care after they were called to a wildfire across 18,000 square metres on Tuesday. This week has also seen two wildfires in West Yorkshire - where fire crews tackled another one last month, as well as a fire on heathland in Dorset. After the wet winter you might have thought that fires were less likely but fire officers warn that although the ground is damp, the recent dry spell means grass can catch light quickly and spread the blaze. We discuss the prospects for wildfires this year and catch up with a sheep farmer who had to save his flock fires last year on the North York Moors. All this week we're looking at spring planting - today we hear from a herb business which began 30 years ago with 11 acres, and is now planting out on 600 acres. They specialise in herbs used in traditional Asian cooking. Grown on the edge of Wolverhampton, they’re distributed to wholesalers all over the country. Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Farmers in the North East of England have welcomed the re-opening of the UK’s only carbon dioxide production plant after 6 months of inactivity. It was mothballed last year, after the US trade deal made it unprofitable. But the war in the Middle East has led to government concerns about CO2 shortages, and they’ve awarded a £100 million pound grant to the Ensus bioethanol factory at Redcar to re-start production. Paludiculture is the practice of farming on wetlands, like bogs or re-wetted peatlands and fens. Defra awarded grants to 12 projects to look at growing crops in lowland peat; the UK’s peatlands store 3 billion tonnes of carbon and keeping peat wet means locking it in the earth, so it’s not lost as C02 contributing to global warming. The Holker Estate on the southern coast of Cumbria is one of those exploring the potential of paludiculture. And oilseed rape is having a good year. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Free range poultry in England and Wales will be able to once more venture outside as the government lifts mandatory housing measures. The deputy chief vet says the risk of bird flu is now low enough to let commercial poultry range outdoors. Mutual respect, better communication and clarity of both intentions and expectations - those are the key principles behind the new ‘Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice’ for Wales, just published by the Welsh government. Planting spring barley as a break crop. Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

More government funding for security and extra spot checks is the only way to stem the tide of illegal meat being smuggled into the UK. That’s according to Dover Port Health Authority who say they intercepted more than 14.2 tonnes of illegal meat in the last week of March. It’s not just a health risk to those who might eat it, there’s also the danger of highly contagious animal diseases like swine fever and foot and mouth disease entering the country in contaminated meat. With foot and mouth outbreaks in both Greece and Cyprus last month, the threat to livestock here, is making farmers increasingly concerned. Scientists at the Lincoln Institute of Agri-Food Technology are using geothermal energy to grow crops under glass. Unlike ground source heat pumps, which make use of solar energy stored in the ground, geothermal energy takes heat from the earth’s core. We speak to the scientists and growers who are testing out new ways of producing strawberries all year round. Spring is in the air, or it certainly should be, and for arable farmers that means sowing the seeds that will grow up into this summer’s harvest. We’re going to take a look at spring planting all through this week. What kind of impact has the wet winter weather had on spring planting - and what about soaring fuel and fertiliser costs? Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Devon-based photographer Chris Chapman has been photographing Dartmoor and the people who live there for more than 50 years. He's turned his camera many times on farmers and agricultural workers to depict daily life in the countryside. Chris tells reporter Fiona Clampin about documenting the changing face of agriculture over the course of half a century, including in 2001 a series of harrowing images taken on one Devon farm at the height of the foot and mouth crisis. The resulting book, Silence at Ramscliffe, is a testament to the power of photography to capture history in the making. Produced and presented by Fiona Clampin.

Warnings that animal welfare is at risk on some Scottish Islands because of widespread disruption to ferry services. Ripples from conflict in the Middle East are felt in UK ports; the fishing industry is asking the Government for help with fuel costs. Every spring in a quiet corner of England on the Herefordshire Gloucestershire border carpets of wild daffodils can still be seen in the fields and woodlands, thanks to carefully managed farming and forestry practices. And as it's lambing time, so we’re learning the ropes with a student vet. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Farmer Roger Corrigan is a born storyteller. Now in his 80s, he has spent all his life farming in Fermanagh and is full of tales about the changes he's seen and the characters, history and folklore of the area. Roger keeps cattle and sheep on his 460 acre farm in west Fermanagh and is a keen supporter of environmentally friendly farming. So, when he was invited to take part in a project which paired artists and farmers together to highlight farming and environmental issues, he was happy to work with one of his neighbours, potter Anna McGurn. Anna McGurn is a self taught potter who is passionate about working with local clay, so much so that she calls herself, 'Muddy Fingers McGurn'. "It's wonderful stuff, pliable and easy to work with and I love the fact that I'm shaping pieces about this land, from the very land itself," she says. Roger is not so keen on the clay. He says the plentiful, dark seams which run through County Fermangh's lakeland are the bane of every farmers life; thick and almost impossible to do anything with, particularly in wet weather. Anna and Roger's work is nearing completion and will be displayed in an exhibition alongside other farming/art collaborations later this year. Five farms in Fermanagh in Northern Ireland and County Leitrim in the Irish Republic are taking part in the scheme which is funded by the Creative Ireland Shared Island Programme and sponsored by the Ulster Wildlife Trust and the Leitrim Sustainable Agriculture Council. Produced and presented by Kathleen Carragher.

There’s concern that animal welfare may be at risk on some Scottish islands because of widespread disruption to ferry services. Eight ferries serving islands on the west coast of Scotland were out of service earlier this week. Calmac, Caledonian MacBrayne, the government owned company that runs them, describes the situation as critical with almost every island affected. NFU Scotland says there’s a risk vital supplies like feed and fertiliser won’t arrive on crofts and farms when they are needed most. We take a closer look at how all this is affecting businesses on the Isle of Barra, speaking to a haulier and the managing director of a shellfish company. There are 60 native breeds of sheep in the UK and DEFRA says 40 of those breeds are officially at risk, with fewer than 6000 breeding ewes according to their newly published ‘UK native breeds support’ list. Farmers who keep rare breed sheep often sell their meat for a premium at farmers markets or in box schemes, but the decline in the number of small abattoirs able to process small batches of carcasses means the numbers just don’t add up for some of those farmers now. Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Fuel prices continue to dominate the headlines, the war in the Middle East has led to them shooting up in recent weeks, causing real concern to those in rural areas who aren’t connected to the gas mains and rely on oil for heating. The £50 million pounds-worth of emergency funds announced last month by the government to help vulnerable rural households are now being distributed by rural local authorities in England and through other mechanisms in the devolved nations. It’s all put a sharp focus on fuel poverty in rural areas. The Westminster Government has just published a new Statistical Digest of Rural England, which shows that the depth of fuel poverty in rural areas is almost twice that of in towns and cities. We know livestock produce greenhouse gas emissions - but we also know that the volume, or amount, of gas is affected by what those cattle or sheep eat. A new DEFRA-funded study has investigated upland sheep grazing systems to see if some forages produce lower emissions. The project compared 120 ewes, some pure Swaledales and some crossbred with Texels, on three different grazing systems in Wensleydale. 1.3 million tonnes of fish were caught in the UK’s ‘Marine Protected Areas’, or MPAs, between 2020 and 2024. Greenpeace, who’ve calculated that figure from official sources, say it makes what should be havens of safety for marine life, little more than meaningless lines on a map. They argue that marine eco-systems are protected on “paper only” while industrial-scale fishing and boats with bottom trawling gear, that drags across the seabed, are still allowed in MPAs. Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Livestock markets in England and Wales have reported record breaking figures for 2025. The latest numbers from the Livestock Auctioneers Association show that turnover was up almost half a billion pounds, to just under 3 billion in total, a twenty percent rise, year on year. That’s despite a reduction in the number of both sheep and cattle in the UK. We ask the Livestock Auctioneers Association why turnover has risen so much. All week we're looking at the sheep sector. Across the UK lambing is well underway, though some will have finished by now. With nearly 15 million breeding ewes, most having twins and some giving birth to triplets, it's an enormous task to get the lambs delivered safely. Many sheep farmers will recruit help in the form of family, vet students, and often those who just have an interest and want to learn. They'll often be matched up through the Lambing List - an online site set up by the National Sheep Association. As the Easter holidays begin, many of us will be taking the chance to get out into the countryside. The charity The Ramblers, which campaigns for walkers and countryside access, says that may be easier said than done. They’ve just launched a new campaign called "access denied". They want an end, they say, to what they describe as years of neglect to Britain’s footpath network, resulting in thousands of miles of paths missing, blocked or un-usable. Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations is asking the Government for help with rising costs because of the conflict in the Middle East. The NFFO says it's difficult to pass on the hike in diesel prices to customers, because fish are sold at auction. It has written to the Minister for Food Security, Angela Eagle, pointing out that some European countries have already announced support packages to help with rising prices. By the end of last week, the average UK price of diesel for fishing boats had gone up by 75% since the beginning of March. Every spring around the villages of Kempley and Dymock carpets of wild daffodils can still be seen in the fields and woodlands, thanks to carefully managed agricultural and forestry practices. Our reporter Bob Hockenhull has been to take a look. Charlotte Smith finds out why this is a pretty good time to be a sheep farmer, according to the Chief Executive of the National Sheep Association. Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Sarah Swadling

The Government has opened a consultation on its proposals to ban trail hunting in England and Wales. Anti-hunt campaigners argue it’s a smokescreen for the continued illegal hunting of foxes. Country sports enthusiasts say trail hunting takes place within the law, and those who break it are prosecuted under existing legislation. As war in the Middle East continues to disrupt global supplies of fuel and fertiliser, there are concerns about CO2 shortages. CO2 is a by-product of fertiliser manufacturing and is used in food production. The Ensus bioethanol plant in Teeside closed last year but it's to start production again, with £100 million from the government. Seafood processors say they're concerned that imports of shellfish won't meet new regulations which recognise crustaceans like lobsters as sentient beings which can feel pain. Farmers and crofters are calling for more help to control geese. Warmer winters mean more geese are staying in Scotland over the winter and farmers say they're ruining crops and soiling grazing. Some species can be shot, but others are protected. NFU Scotland is calling for urgent action to help reduce their numbers. All week we've been taking a step back in time and looking at some of the pivotal moments in farming history. Victorian innovation and technology lead to big agricultural and social changes. As populations grew rapidly, farmers in the 19th century strove to advance the way they grew crops, bred more profitable animals and took advantage of new inventions. A farmers' choir has reached the semi finals of ITV's Britain's Got Talent. The Hawkstone Farmers' Choir wants to raise awareness of mental health in farming communities. Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

The Government has opened a consultation on its proposals to ban trail hunting in England and Wales. There’s already a ban in Scotland. The Westminster Government committed to stopping the practice in its Animal Welfare Strategy published in December. In trail hunting hounds follow a pre-laid animal-based scent. It replaced traditional fox-hunting after that was banned in England and Wales in 2004. Anti-hunt campaigners argue it’s a smokescreen for the continued illegal hunting of foxes. Instead they want ‘clean boot’ hunting, where bloodhounds follow the scent of humans, or strictly policed drag hunting using a non animal scent. Country sports enthusiasts say trail hunting takes place within the law, and those who do break the law are prosecuted under existing legislation. This week we’ve been taking a whistle stop tour through the history of farming. Today we’re up to the Second World War. When it broke out, it quickly became clear that the British Government needed to completely transform farming practices in order to protect the country’s food supply. The wartime changes would leave a lasting legacy in the form of a modernised, mechanised industry...not without some negative consequences. Presenter: Caz Graham Producer: Sarah Swadling

The Scottish Government's published details of its support system for farmers. Agriculture is devolved and since Brexit, each of the UK's four governments has set up its own system for financially supporting farmers. In Scotland, farmers and crofters have been digesting the details of the new five-year plan. Payments will be allocated up to 2031 with the biggest changes coming in the last year. It's been broadly welcomed by NFU Scotland but others have described it as 'stuck in the past.' Leaders from the UK gas sector have written to the energy secretary urging the Government to help reduce the UK’s reliance on foreign gas imports. They say with war in the Middle East, ministers need to support the production of biomethane. Farming can play a significant part in producing biomethane as anaerobic digesters use a huge range of ingredients, including animal byproducts, non-food crops and food waste. All week we're taking a step back in time and looking at some of the pivotal moments in farming history. Victorian innovation and technology lead to big agricultural and social changes. As populations grew rapidly, farmers in the 19th century strove to advance the way they grew crops, bred more profitable animals and took advantage of new inventions. Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney