Farming Today

After Farming Minister Angela Eagle’s reshuffling out of DEFRA, we hear why the farming industry really doesn’t like ministerial churn.
We're looking at Scottish agricultural policy all week. There’s a debate around whether land that’s used for grazing, rather than growing other crops, should be targeted to produce more environmental benefits.
Precision farming techniques and automation are getting more popular as a way to help reduce costs, but they depend on good connectivity. Something that can be a challenge in rural areas.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The owner of one of the last remaining abattoirs in the south east of England has said he's furious after a court ruled that the food regulator has been over charging for its hygiene and animal welfare checks. A number of abattoirs have been forced to close recently due to rising financial pressures. Earlier this month, a High Court judge said some of these costs, enforced by the Food Standards Agency, should never have been charged.
A new study by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, published by Natural England, suggests that the release of millions of pheasant and partridge into the countryside for shooting does not have a significant impact on the insect population in the wider environment. However, campaigners claim the releases do have a detrimental impact.
As Scotland's farmers get ready for the Royal Highland Show, we're taking a closer look at how the country has designed its own farming and rural policy post-Brexit, under its devolved powers. The changes won't be fully implemented until 2030. Like the policy of 'public money for public goods' in England, many of the changes in Scotland centre around including payments for enhancing the environment. Not all farmers have embraced the idea of including wildlife alongside food production, but farmer and writer Tom Bowser has done more than most, including releasing beavers on his farmland.
Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Rebecca Rooney

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) says three rare heathland birds are starting to recover. Its heathland bird survey - the first for 20 years - shows populations and spread of the nightjar, the Dartford warbler and the woodlark are improving. They looked into whether active management within specially protected areas was helping.
Beetles can be both welcome and unwelcome visitors to farmland. We recently reported that scientists at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire had created an app to help identify and then combat the troublesome cabbage stem flea beetle. Now a second team at the institute have launched an app to help identify one of the good guys: the carabid beetle, also known as the ground beetle. The focus is very much on accurate and fast identification so farmers know for certain if they have a healthy population in their fields.
And all this week we're taking a closer look at Scottish agricultural policy, ahead of the Royal Highland Show. Today we hear how far the government has come in developing its own policies after Brexit.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sally Challoner.

An emergency by-law has been passed in Cornwall, to restrict the number of boats coming in to take advantage of the ongoing bloom of octopus on the south coast.
It's been described as a 'gold rush' as huge sums are being made - Brixham fish market recently experienced a record catch of 103 tonnes - worth £400,000.
But the octopus are also causing problems - eating crab and lobster and devastating that industry locally. It's hoped the new by-law will help those stocks recover.
The Royal Highland Show is taking place this week, so we're taking a closer look at Scottish agricultural policy. It's devolved, so the Scottish government has developed new post Brexit farming and environment schemes which we'll talk more about later in the week - but one aspect is it's support for organic farming. The latest figures, from the UK government show a 115% rise in Scottish land farmed organically in 2025, accross the UK there was a 7.3% rise. The organic certifiying and campaigning group The Soil Association says political backing and the scrapping of an upper limit on farm size for organic grants has helped.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.

The budget for the scheme which pays England's farmers for environmental work is revealed - but is it enough?
With production costs rising following the war in the Middle East, the National Farmers' Union is calling for government support with the price of fertiliser.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.