17/01/25 - CCC changes advice on eating meat, report finds environmental targets off track, adapting farm machinery
The Climate Change Committee is revising its advice on eating meat. In 2020 the Committee, which is the Government's advisor on climate change, recommended people cut their intake of beef, lamb and dairy produce by 20% by 2030 and by 35% by 2050, to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses produced by livestock in the UK. But the Interim Chair Professor Piers Forster tells us that in light of new technologies, this is being looked at again.Farmers have to drive change if we're to meet legally binding targets on improving the environment. So says the Office for Environmental Protection in a new report looking at the last government's progress on meeting targets on water quality, air pollution and stopping biodiversity loss. It says England remains largely off track as progress 'slowed' and 'very substantial' challenges remain if targets are to be reached by 2030. We hear about the workarounds which farmers come up with to keep older machines going.Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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16/01/25 - The LAMMA 2025 Farm Machinery Show
The LAMMA 2025 farm machinery show is underway at the NEC in Birmingham - but is anyone buying? Charlotte Smith visits the show to check out the latest in farm machinery and innovation. She takes a look at a new sprayer which can target individual weeds, and finds out why farmers want to play a farming computer game.She also hears how many farmers are feeling less able to invest in new kit after a difficult year for farming: wet weather hit harvests and incomes, and then October’s Budget saw a surprise acceleration of the phasing out of subsidy payments in England, alongside changes to employers National Insurance and of course the introduction of inheritance tax on farms. Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons
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15/01/2025 - UK bans imports of German meat following foot & mouth outbreak in Germany, devolved agriculture ministers, combines
The UK closes its borders to imports of German meat, as the authorities there tackle an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Farmers here are told to be vigilant.Each of devolved nations is designing a new post-Brexit farm payment scheme, to replace the old EU system. They're all moving towards rewarding farmers not for the land they farm, but for providing better habitats for wildlife, flood mitigation, improving soils and carbon at the Oxford Farming Conference.This week we're taking a look at machinery, a vital but very expensive commodity on the farm. To keep costs down many farmers are now part of the national network of machinery rings, where those with kit can loan it out to other farms that need it. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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14/01/2025 - Trade with the EU, gene editing, robotic milking and small abattoir closures
As England is now the one part of the UK allowed to grow gene edited crops, what does that mean for trade with partners like the EU? We discuss the latest promises on legislation with Northern Ireland's Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs...and a farmer who's growing precision bred crops.Twenty years ago the idea of robotic milking for cows may have seemed far-fetched, but today it's not uncommon, with an estimated 10% of UK dairy farms using automated systems. We visit a farm in Wales to see the kit in action.And the creation of new, small abattoirs to replace those we've lost should be supported by Government funding - that's according to the Rare Breed Survival Trust. It comes as Newman's Abattoir in Hampshire is now set to shut its doors at the end of January - the latest in a long line of closures.Presented by Anna Hill
Produced by Heather Simons
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11/01/25 Farming Today This Week: the farming conferences in Oxford
Farming Today This Week comes from Oxford where two big conferences have been taking place: the Oxford Farming Conference and the Oxford Real Farming Conference. The first is traditionally seen as attended by the established and larger farms, and the Real Farming Conference has wider scope with more smaller farms, organic producers and artisan food producers. Both together represent UK farming as a whole.A convoy of tractors and farmers with placards staged a protest in Oxford City Centre as Defra Secretary Steve Reed gave his speech to the Oxford Farming Conference. They're angry at plans to change the rules around inheritance tax. This wasn't the focus of Steve Reed's speech; instead he promised a plan for change. He told delegates this must have three things: food production at its core, diversification of income, and restoration of nature as part of farming. He also announced speeding up the planning process for farm buildings. Agriculture's a devolved issue, and farming ministers for the devolved nations gave speeches about what's happening in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.We also report from The Oxford Real Farming Conference, where have similar concerns about the future of their businesses. We speak to the manager, interview an upland farmer about whole farm profitability, and drop in on a session about inheritance tax.Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
Ireland