Episodes
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Reading University has bought £16m worth of farmland to improve its research into food and farming. The 635-acre site at Tanners Farm, Farley, includes pasture, arable land and woodland and is an addition to the farmland and facilities the university already owns. The university's vice-chancellor said the purchase would help secure the future of agriculture at Reading for the next century to come.As more people flock to the countryside, paths are becoming eroded. Add to that the wet weather and many tracks need urgent repair. We join the North York Moors National Park as they transport stone to the top of a local viewpoint by helicopter.We're looking at the soft fruit industry this week and today it's the blueberry. Hard to grow because of its acidic soil requirements, it does thrive in some regions. We visit two farms, in Devon and Cornwall.And we meet Jim Smith, the beef and sheep farmer from Perthshire who's turning his hand to stand-up comedy. He draws on his own experiences to show the funny side of what can be a difficult and stressful job. Presented by Steffan Messenger, and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sally Challoner.
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A creamery which has been producing Stilton since 1780 is due to close its doors with the loss of 60 jobs. Tuxford and Tebbutt in Melton Mowbray is owned by the farmer co-operative Arla, which has been trying to sell the creamery as a going concern.They've blamed the closure on what they say is a decline in the speciality cheese market. Dairy industry analyst Chris Walkland explains what's happened.
There's been some debate about whether this wet spring has had an effect on the bee population. Ian Campbell is a spokesperson for the British Bee Keepers Association. He says this has been a challenging year for honey bees.
A farmer who switched from intensive cereal production to wildflower meadows, and open access to walkers, says the farm is now just as profitable as when he was feeding people. Chris Skinner runs High Ash Farm just outside Norwich. He says even though he’s not producing food, he feels he’s still giving people a valuable benefit...and many visitors are happy to donate to support his wildlife work. Anna Hill joined him for a walk in the meadows.
Scottish raspberries are famed for their flavour and quality...But disease, labour costs and supermarket prices mean the industry is taking a beating, with some growers pulling out or cutting production.Now the James Hutton Institute is developing varieties and growing techniques which can solve at least some of these problems. Richard Baynes has been to Invergowrie on Tayside to find out more.
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Danish farmers are facing a tax on methane from cattle, pigs and slurry. The charges will be based on how many animals a farmer has, and what sort of farming system they use. There will be money available for farmers to introduce technical solutions, such as covering up slurry storage, to reduce emissions.
We visit a soft fruit farm in Kent which is part of a trial to generate electricity by draping lightweight, flexible solar panels over some polytunnels.
And a study by researchers at the University of Cambridge has looked at the urban / rural divide in voting habits - and found what it called a gradient of disenchantment and distrust in democracy, that increases as it moves from urban centres through suburbs, towns, villages and out into open country.
Presented by Anna HillProduced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
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"Fishing is about food - it's not a conservation problem, or heritage activity, or a hobby" the words of the fishing industry to politicians as we enter the final few days of campaigning before the general election. The National Federation of Fisherman's Organisations is calling for an incoming government to develop a national fishing strategy.
Now most beekeepers sell honey - unless they eat it all of course - but few also sell bees. We speak to a pair of commercial bee keepers who produce honey and queen bees for sale. The pair produce 18 hundred queens a year and sell them to other bee keepers for breeding.
Wimbledon is upon us, and with it an appetite for strawberries, but there are warnings that there will be millions fewer punnets of British strawberries on supermarket shelves this year, and that long term the amount of soft fruit we grow here could half. All this week we'll be looking at soft fruit, predominantly homegrown strawberries which were worth more than £470 million pounds last year and raspberries which were worth £180 million, both those figures from DEFRA. However the industry's warning that growers are reining in their planting plans.
Presenter = Charlotte SmithProducer = Rebecca Rooney
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Charlotte Smith hosts an "election special" looking at rural manifesto promises - she explores what's on offer on food, farming, the environment and rural services. She's joined by rural correspondents from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Presented by Charlotte SmithProduced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
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All week we've been looking at party manifestos and politicians' pledges on food and farming. We've head from the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats - today we round up what the other parties are offering the countryside.
We meet a family of flower growers in Cornwall who've been farming in the Tamar Valley for half a century. Barry Richards built his first glasshouses in the 1970s before the flower market became dominated by imports which pushed many British flower growers out of business. However the Richards have diversified to become importers and distributors. They've massively increased the number of varieties they produce and now grow all year round.
This year's wet weather means farmers are seeing hemlock in places they wouldn't usually see the plant. It's extremely poisonous for animals and people. Agronomists say it's highly unlikely it will get into the food chain, but say farmers need to be vigilant.
Presenter = Caz GrahamProducer = Rebecca Rooney
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All this week we're hearing from the main political parties on what they're offering farmers and rural communities this election. Today it's the turn of the Liberal Democrats who say they'll put an extra £1 billion a year into the agriculture budget.
When the Groundswell show started eight years ago it was a small event for the then rather niche 'regenerative farming'. This year's show still held on the Cherry family farm in Hertfordshire expects thousands of visitors to discuss, debate and look at machinery, as regen ag is becoming far more mainstream. We hear from tenant farmer Andy Cato of Groove Armada and Wildfarmed on how to make it pay.
Keep Sundays special or move with the times? That's the debate in Channel Island of Sark, as politicians consider whether to change a law that means tractor drivers have to have written permission to go out on Sundays.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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A "New Deal for Farming" including better trade deals and more public procurement of home grown food - we hear what's in the Labour Party manifesto on farming, the environment and rural communities. It's part of a series of political interviews with the main parties that will run on the programme across the week.
Groundswell is the biggest UK event for "regenerative farming" - and around eight thousand people are expected to attend this week's show. But some farmers worry that switching to growing food without relying on chemicals will lead to lower yields and less profit. So what's the solution?
And, we meet the seed breeder who produced a variety of wheat called "Champion" which was used by the Lincolnshire farmer who holds the World Record for the most wheat produced per hectare of land.
Presented by Anna HillProduced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
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An extra billion pounds across the next Parliament for farming and legally binding targets on food production - we hear what's in the Conservative Party manifesto on farming, the environment and rural communities. It's part of a series of political interviews with the main parties that will run on the programme across the week.
Learning about food and its link to farming can be a challenge in the classroom - but what better way than to actually farm your school dinners? We visit Maple Hayes Dyslexia School in the Midlands where they're doing just that. The school set up its own herd of deer in the grounds, some of which end up on the lunch menu.
And the population of hazel dormice in the UK has declined by over two-thirds since 2000. Earlier this month 10 were reintroduced into a secret Bedfordshire woodland with the aim of creating a more genetically diverse population in the area.
Presented by Anna HillProduced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
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The 240th Royal Highland Show is taking place just outside Edinburgh, and more than 200,000 people expected to attend over the 4 days of the show. We hear from some of the breeders showing cattle at the show.
In 2022, the UK grew 162,000 tonnes of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers and celery - worth more than 200 million pounds. This time of year is normally peak salad season, but the months of rain and below average temperatures have been bad news for the country's salad growers. We find out what that means for both field crops and those grown in glasshouses.
An e-coli outbreak across the UK has been traced back to some salad leaves, which were used in a wide range of food, including sandwiches and wraps. The Food Standards Agency has not been able to say whether those leaves came from UK farms, or were imported. We ask what it means for farmers.
And could the plant breeding achievements of the Green Revolution be started again from scratch? That's the hope of scientists at the John Innes Centre, who say modern commercial varieties of wheat used by farmers could be replaced with better ones, using wheat lines collected a century ago.
Presented by Caz GrahamProduced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
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Charlotte Smith visits the Royal Highland Show for its 240th year to talk cattle, politics and farmers' health.
Produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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Could the plant breeding achievements of the Green Revolution be started again from scratch? That's the hope of scientists at the John Innes Centre, who say modern commercial varieties of wheat used by farmers could be replaced with better ones, using wheat lines collected a century ago. Back in the 1920s, an enterprising plant scientist named Arthur Earnest Watkins sent out letters to other Brits around the world, asking them to collect locally grown wheat, hoping the traits in those local cultivars would come in useful in the future. That original Watkins Collection is now based at the John Innes Centre in Norwich - but a massive 60 percent of the genetic diversity held within it, has never been looked at.
The Landworkers' Alliance is one of the smaller groups. It speaks for regenerative and sustainable agriculture, but with an emphasis on local production, and getting more people involved in growing food. We hear what they want from the next Government.
And we visit a new "Centre of Excellence" in glasshouse growing at Hadlow College. It's been set up with Thanet Earth - the biggest greenhouse complex in the UK, growing salad veg.
Presented by Anna HillProduced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
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A recent E-coli outbreak is thought to have been caused by contaminated salad leaves. There have been over 200 confirmed cases of food poisoning across the UK caused by e-coli bacteria found in manure, with nearly half those affected admitted to hospital. So how does the bacteria get into the salad, and what are farmers doing to prevent it?
As part of our week looking at salads, we visit Evesham Vale Growers in Worcestershire, where they grow 500 acres of spring onions outside and some 70 acres of premium tomatoes in glasshouses. Alongside salad production, they grow crops including maize and wheat to feed anaerobic digesters for gas and electricity, and there's a solar farm. Some of the gas and electricity is used to heat and light the glasshouses - insulating them somewhat from fluctuating energy prices.
The Soil Association, which campaigns for sustainable and organic food and farming, has published it's list of demands in the run up to the election. It wants the next Government to 'grow green jobs' by backing sustainable British farming and protect the NHS by supporting healthy and sustainable food.
Presented by Anna HillProduced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
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With the rain continuing and below average temperatures, the outlook isn't so sunny for UK salad growers.
We look at some of the detail in the main parties' manifestos to see what they're promising on issues like the agriculture budget, food security and England's badger cull.
Sometimes described as a farmer's best friend, dung beetles consume, bury and break up dung, improving soils as they go. Earlier this month vets and farmers met at a conference in Somerset devoted to the dung beetle.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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Three UK vet practices are now offering IVF for cows. It's a common practise for dairy cows to be made pregnant using artificial insemination, but IVF is more specialist. It allows for multiple embryos to be produced from one particularly good cow, meaning the genetics of a herd can be improved more quickly and its health and productivity improved. But it means hormonal treatments and some invasive procedures for the cow - so is it ethical?
In a world first, methane from slurry on a farm in Somerset is being broken down and turned into hydrogen gas and graphene. Graphene is a material that was discovered in the UK 20 years ago, and is normally made from mining graphite rock. But a company called Levidian has developed a process which separates the carbon and hydrogen in methane gas, to make graphene and hydrogen.
And ten police forces across the country will soon be trialling new forensic technology to help identify dogs involved in livestock attacks. We hear from farmers affected and find out why the police think this new kit will help.
Presented by Charlotte SmithProduced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
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The vets using IVF to improve dairy herds, and could a new 2-stage planning system help kickstart the rural economy? We hear from the CLA on what it wants from the next government.In a special episode of On Your Farm recorded at the Hay Festival, Kate Humble explains how she accidentally ended up buying a council farm in the beautiful Wye Valley in Wales.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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We’re talking about vets all this week and one of the most difficult and unpleasant jobs they face is dealing with serious illness and disease in livestock, like the devastating foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. Breaking the painful news to a farmer that their whole livelihood is under threat is something no one wants on their job description. The threat of bovine TB can take a heavy toll on the mental wellbeing of both farmers and vets. We meet a dairy farmer in Derbyshire who's lived under the shadow of TB all her life, and also the farm vet who runs the TB Advisory Service which supports farmers and vets.
As the general election campaigning continues, party manifestos are coming out, thick and fast. We’re going to be taking a detailed look at all of the main manifestos with key party spokes-people, the week before the election on 4th July, but we’re also hearing from a range of campaign groups and organisations that live and breath farming, rural life, wildlife and the environment to find out what they would like from the next government. Today it’s the Wildlife Trusts, the organisation that campaigns for wildlife and wild places.
Ten police forces across the country are to trial new forensic technology to help identify dogs involved in livestock attacks. It involves collecting canine DNA at the scene.The South West of England has more dog attacks of this kind than anywhere else in the country – last year, farm animals worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were severely injured or killed by dogs, according to NFU Mutual. The hope is these new DNA test kits will recue the number of dog attacks.
Presenter = Caz GrahamProducer = Rebecca Rooney
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Post-Brexit trade barriers are leaving the UK behind when it comes to introducing new varieties of crops - according to the British Society of Plant Breeders. Anna Hill reports from the arable event, Cereals 2024, where seed breeding is centre stage.
After one of the wettest years on record left many farmers have been struggling to get out into the fields to plant or spray crops...but new drone technology could help - making it possible to spray on land that's still too soft to put heavy machinery on.
And away from the show, we visit a Welsh livestock farm to find out how vets and farmers are working together to reduce the use of antibiotics.
Presented by Anna HillProduced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
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In a world first, methane from slurry on a dairy farm in Somerset is being broken down and turned into hydrogen gas and graphene. The farm involved is Worthy Farm, which hosts the Glastonbury Festival. It already has an anaerobic digester which uses slurry from their dairy cows to make methane which is used to make electricity, and now also used to make graphene. We find out how it all works.
Last year tens of thousands of sheep in the Netherlands died after contracting bluetongue - a virus transmitted by biting midges. Famers in England are being warned to be vigilant for signs of the disease, and scientists at the Pirbright Institute in Surrey are studying midges to try to predict what might happen this summer.
And a shortage of vets means recruiting can be a challenge - and it can be even harder for practices in remote areas. We visit from practice in Fort William in the West Highlands who are finding it difficult to recruit a new member of staff.
Presented by Anna HillProduced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
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Farmers need more money - so says the National Farmers' Union which says the incoming Government should increase the agriculture budget. Over the next few weeks as well as hearing from politicians about what they propose for farming, the environment and rural communities, we're also going to hear from rural and wildlife groups about what they think incoming MPs should be focusing on. Starting with the NFU which launched its manifesto at the end of last year.
Fishermen in Looe say the closure of the Plymouth Fish Market is a disaster for their industry. Now the day catch has to be sent around 30 miles further, to Brixham Harbour for auction. The Looe Harbour Commissioners are trying to help the fishermen by transporting the fish to Brixham.
Our topic for the week is vets. While they'll still be involved in a emergency, the role of a farm vet has changed a lot over the years. They now work with farmers on whole herd health. But that doesn't make the job any easier and as we'll hear this week recruiting vets in rural areas can be a challenge.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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