Farming Today

BBC Radio 4

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

  1. VOR 17 STD.

    07/05/26 Wool prices, bluebells, dawn chorus

    The price of wool from British sheep is at a ten year high - on average farmers will see a 70 per cent increase on last year. However that will still only just cover the cost of shearing the sheep. The price is set by British Wool, which is owned by around 30,000 UK sheep farmers, and collects, grades, sells and promotes wool. It says the price rise is down to increased demand, and a worldwide fall in the number of sheep. Well if you've been out and about in the countryside in the last few weeks you may have seen the glorious displays of bluebells. Not all of them are native - and there's concern that the invasive Spanish variety is spreading, and could threaten our more delicate blooms. Bluebells are protected - it is illegal to pick them - and in some parts of the UK, land owners are doing more to preserve the native species. And all this week we're listening to the countryside - the sounds we hear beyond, say, a tractor, or cows mooing. So far we've heard bats, worms in the soil and babbling brooks. Today we're joining an organised dawn chorus walk - It's one of the most popular events at Bere Farm in Dorset, run by the Countryside Regeneration Trust. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.

    14 Min.

  2. VOR 1 TAG

    06/05/26 Weedkiller glyphosate and its use on crops. Sounds of the soil.

    The use of the herbicide glyphosate has been long debated, and it’s going to come under intense scrutiny in the coming months.  This summer, the Health and Safety Executive will launch a two-month public consultation on whether approval for the use of glyphosates should be renewed. In the EU, a decision was made in 2023 to renew glyphosate approval for 10 years, though with restrictions on how it can be used to dry off crops before harvesting. Here, the NFU and other farming organisations support the continued use of glyphosate-based weedkillers – including as a pre-harvest desiccant in cereals and oilseed rape. They say it reduces the need for other herbicides, helps protect soil, and cuts greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the need for ploughing. However the Soil Association, along with a number of other environmental groups, are launching a petition calling for glyphosate to be banned as a pre-harvest desiccant. The sounds of the countryside can be every bit as evocative as its sights - the dawn chorus, or the burbling of a stream can conjure up a mood, or a special place. So this week on Farming Today we're exploring the landscape of the UK through sound. One soil scientist is using microphones to eavesdrop on life below the surface, especially earthworms. Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

    14 Min.

  3. VOR 2 TAGEN

    05/05/26 Ash tree propagation, clinical waste on beach, DIY bat monitoring

    A new propagation technique could help restore the ash tree to our landscapes. Scientists across the UK have been working to propagate saplings from resistant trees, but currently that takes between 2 and 5 years. Now researchers at the John Innes Centre have developed a speedier system, which they hope everyone could use, even at home, with the help of household bleach. Campaigners are calling for a full-scale clean-up of beaches on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent following the discovery of a large quantity of illegally dumped clinical waste. The University of Suffolk and a local group have been monitoring bats using bioacoustics to track their ultrasonic calls as they visit people's gardens. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

    14 Min.

  4. VOR 3 TAGEN

    04/05/26 Neolithic Farming and Feasting

    Neolithic peoples made the transition from being nomadic hunter-gatherers to crop-growing farmers, and their diets are the subject of numerous studies. Archaeological evidence informs us about the farming and foraging activities of these ancient peoples, but it's unusual to get a first hand taste of how it might have been to forage on the shore and land! On the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the arts organisation, Haar, facilitated an opportunity to sit down to an interpretation of a Stone Age feast - albeit with considerable artistic and culinary licence! The event was centered around the 5000-year-old Calanais standing stone circle. Nancy Nicolson joined the foragers to find out about the farming and feasting habits of our ancestors, and met one of the crofters whose sheep today graze the machair, the strip of flower and herb-rich land that borders the sea and which it is believed contributed to the flavours and nutrition of the food Neolithic people ate. Produced and presented by Nancy Nicolson.

    12 Min.

  5. VOR 5 TAGEN

    02/05/26 Dry April, Agroforestry, Giant greenhouse

    Farmers are hoping for more rain in May after an unusually dry and windy April in many part of the UK. The East of England had between 2 and 4 per cent of the expected rainfall last month. We hear from a farmer struggling to plant his crops. This week we look at agroforestry - that's farming with trees in the mix. We visit farms using trees for different reasons - including providing shade for livestock, adding nutrients to soil, and providing habitats for useful insect predators. And the UK's second largest greenhouse - which could replace 7 per cent of the tomatoes the UK imports - has been given the go ahead. Rivenhall Greenhouse near Braintree in Essex will cover 40 hectares and use power from a domestic waste incinerator - burning all the black bag waste from the county. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.

    25 Min.

  6. VOR 6 TAGEN

    01/05/2026 Farmers hoping for rain, English council elections, hedgerows

    Farmers are hoping that a dry April will be followed by a wet few weeks. Some parts of the country, notably in the East of England, have had between 2% and 4% of the expected rainfall last month. This feels a lot like last year when the dry spring led to a loss of yields and even failed crops and that hit the bottom lines of farming businesses. Some farmers are warning that without rain soon we could see the same again this year. Less than a week to go now before elections across the UK. We've talked about the issues rural voters in Wales and Scotland are considering as they vote for their national governments who control agricultural policy, today we're turning our attention to the council elections in England. We've been talking all week about agro-forestry: planting trees alongside crops or livestock grazing. Today we hear how hedgerows can benefit farms. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

    14 Min.

  7. 30. APR.

    30/04/26 Agro-forestry pioneer, Welsh election, decline in dawn chorus birds

    Mixing trees and farming in agro-forestry: why the key to resilient farming could be trees. We're looking at this all this week and today we hear from a British pioneer. A week today millions of people will head to the polls to vote in a number of local council and mayoral elections in England, while voters in Scotland and Wales will elect representatives to their national parliaments.  Farming policy is largely devolved to the governments in Edinburgh and Cardiff, and having heard the latest from the campaign trail in Scotland yesterday, today we turn to Wales. This Sunday is International Dawn Chorus day. The RSPB is using the occasion to celebrate a rise in the number of young people bird watching, though the British Trust for Ornithology warns that there are fewer birds for them to see and hear. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

    14 Min.

  8. 29. APR.

    29/04/26 Giant greenhouse, silvohorticulture, Scottish election

    A 40 hectare greenhouse has been given the go-ahead in Essex. It'll be the UK's second largest, and will be powered and heated by a domestic waste incinerator on the same site. The company says it will grow 28,000 tonnes of tomatoes a year, which will offset 7 percent of UK tomato imports from Southern Spain, Morocco and Holland. We visit a farm in Gloucestershire where they incorporate trees into everything they grow. Silvohorticulture uses the trees to provide shade, wind cover, and compost. And this week we're looking ahead to the upcoming elections in the UK. Today, what politicians are promising farmers in Scotland. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sally Challoner.

    14 Min.
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The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

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