Podcasts about caz graham

Five years on from Brexit, the Prime Minister has re-set the UK's trade relationship with the EU, with a new, wide-ranging deal. In this programme Caz Graham looks at what it could mean for food, farming and fishing.The UK and EU will now move towards an agreement which would reduce the paperwork and border checks involved in exporting foods like fish, meat and dairy, and fresh produce like plants and flowers. It also means the export of some products to the EU which has been banned since Brexit - like many farmed mussels and oysters, as well as sausages, burgers and seed potatoes - could now resume.While many exporters have welcomed the deal, it's also lead to uncertainty over the future of Border Control Posts - facilities set up since Brexit to handle similar checks on imports. A senior civil servant confirmed this week that some such facilities could be decommissioned, and the industry want compensation.Meanwhile, another part of the deal is focussed on fishing, and allows EU boats access to fish in UK waters until 2038. The Scottish Fishermen's Federation has called the deal "a horror show" - but the DEFRA Secretary told MPs this week that it's "reasonably good" for UK fishing.Presented by Caz Graham Produced by Heather Simons

The first member of Donald Trump's cabinet to visit the UK is Brooke Rollins, his Agriculture Secretary. Secretary Rollins told journalists the 'historic' trade deal would create billions of dollars in opportunity for U.S. export markets and more choice for British consumers. She also described their notorious 'chlorinated chicken' as a myth. Is it? We look for some clarity. MPs have written to the Government calling for a year's delay to the inheritance tax changes on farms. It's agricultural show season. This week we visit the Balmoral Show in Northern Ireland.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

So-called ‘chlorinated chicken' has been a major sticking point in US-UK trade talks, one of the red lines British farmers say the Government cannot cross. But US Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, says we've got the wrong end of the stick about how their chicken is produced nowadays. So is chlorine washed chicken merely a “myth to dispel”? We look for some clarity.It's been obligatory to keep all poultry and captive birds indoors in some parts of England under the Government's mandatory housing restriction order to help prevent the spread of bird flu. That order has been lifted this morning because the risk of avian flu has reduced.As part of our week looking at grass, today we visit a turf farm. There's a big market for turf from gardeners, golf courses and for sports pitches and parks, and it's not just for the pristine tightly-mown grass, you can even buy specialist turfs for green roofs, and species-rich and wild-flower turfs too. The Government's Farming in Protected Landscapes programme has funded river re-wiggling, school visits to farms and even the creation of Lake District tweed since it began in 2021, and now it's making life easier for rock climbers with disabilities in the Peak District. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Farmers have welcomed a new UK trade deal with India, with tariff reductions for whisky, salmon and lamb. And the UK Prime Minister and the US President announced a trade arrangement between the two countries, with UK tariffs removed on imports of American ethanol, and a reciprocal agreement on beef. But the UK ban on American chlorine washed chicken and hormone treated beef continues.To mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, we hear from one of the 'land girls', who ploughed crops, milked cows and drove tractors on British farms during WII.And as part of our week digging into spuds, we hear how Scottish seed potato growers are trying to resume trade with the EU.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The Scottish Farm Business Survey has revealed a big drop in average farm income, falling by 51% in its latest figures for 2023/4. The President of NFU Scotland, Andrew Connon, tells Caz Graham that farm profits are being squeezed by increased costs including interest rates. As talks continue to hammer out a trade agreement between the UK and the US, the President of the NFU in England, Tom Bradshaw, remains bullish that the UK Government will stand firm on food import standards. And we visit a trout farm in Wiltshire as part of a week focussing on aquaculture.Presenter: Caz Graham Producer: Sarah Swadling

Donald Trump's new tariff regime, imposing at least a 10% tariff on all imports to the US, has caused chaos in international markets, and farmers across the world are wondering how they'll be affected. Here the National Farmers Union says it's working “at pace” with government on how to react if there is market disruption.The University of Reading has a worldwide reputation for expertise in agriculture and food research. So there was some surprise when it was revealed the University was planning to sell off one of its farms for housing.As part of our week looking at island farming, we're heading west off the coast of Cornwall, to the Isles of Scilly. Frost is rare in Scilly, which means cut flowers can be grown outdoors in both the winter and early spring. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

There've been cases of foot and mouth disease in Germany, Hungary and Romania this spring. How would we fare if it crossed the Channel? We're talking about biosecurity all this week, how to prevent disease, like FMD, from getting into the country and how to stop it spreading if it does. Livestock farmers have to follow strict rules when they move their animals. They also have to record all movements to ensure each individual cow or sheep can be traced in the event of an outbreak of a contagious disease. Cattle passports were introduced in 1998 after the BSE crisis and since 2010 all sheep have to be electronically tagged, a response to the major foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. We visit a south Cumbrian auction to hear about biosecurity measures and to see what farmers make of them. And James Wood, Professor of veterinary epidemiology at Cambridge University, tells us that in order to prevent the spread of disease, biosecurity measures are just part of the story. A group of cross party MPs has told the Government that farmers are way down the pecking order compared to the big supermarkets and food processors, and often feel powerless to challenge questionable behaviour by them. Yesterday in Parliament Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland and also Chair of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, introduced what's called a ten minute rule bill; the ‘Food Supply Chain Fairness Bill' aims to give farmers a more level playing field. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

This week, the Government has refused emergency use of pesticides shown to harm pollinators for the first time.What's the future for US agriculture if farm workers with no documents are deported?And will the collective voice of the supermarkets make a difference on inheritance tax for farmers?Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

20 ancient barns in the Lake District are being restored thanks to a fund of just over 3 million pounds. Caz Graham joins an architect and a farmer to find out how the work is being done. Solomon is a Shorthorn bull, and he's a bull with a job title. He's the Department Bull. Owned by the Scottish Government, Solomon is one of a number of bulls available to small-scale crofters in the Highlands and Islands who want to choose a mate for their beef herds. We visit the Isle of Lewis to find out more. And the Derby Tup is a traditional Derbyshire folk play, performed in the winter months. We hear from a family keeping the tradition alive.Presented by Helen Mark and produced by Chris Ledgard at BBC Audio Bristol

Twenty historic barns across the Lake District are enjoying some long overdue tender loving care, thanks to £3.2 million pounds worth of funding from DEFRA and other sources. The oldest of these barns dates back to the 15th century. Some are traditional cruck barns with ancient timber frames and others are remote stone shelters for sheep from the 18th century.As Caz Graham discovers, they're part of the UK's rural cultural heritage and tell the story of farming over the centuries. For modern-day farmers however, these buildings can be a real headache: they are often unfit for modern farming practices and hugely expensive to restore or maintain because of building protections like listings, or because they're in a National Park.Caz joins farmers, builders, architect Mike Darwell and Rose Lord, the historic buildings officer at the Lake District National Park Authority to hear how these traditional buildings are getting a new lease of life.Produced and presented by Caz Graham.

The Northern Ireland Executive has published its draft budget for 2025-26 and it's now open for public consultation. Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs is set to receive just over £715 million pounds, an increase of 3%. But no specific funding has been allocated to address serious pollution in Lough Neagh and Andrew Muir, the environment minister, says his department has only been awarded around a third of what he'd requested for day to day spending. He describes it as ‘a difficult budget'. Historic farm diaries provide a fascinating glimpse into agricultural, social and cultural life in years gone by. So curators at the Three Rivers Museum in Hertfordshire were excited to unearth a diary written in Victorian times by a farmer from Rickmansworth called John White. Masters students at the University of Hertfordshire have been scrutinising the diary entries to see if there's anything that John's observations from 150 years ago might teach farmers today. Rearing and selling turkeys for Christmas has become a major source of income for some family farms, including Cuckoo Mill Farm at Pelcomb Bridge, in Pembrokeshire. And at this time of year, it's a real family affair, with all hands on deck. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The Government 'risks creating a culture of fear and resistance' amongst farmers, according to the Nature Friendly Farmers Network. It's highlighting the suspension of grants which help farmers in England invest in infrastructure to improve the environment. That's things like better slurry storage to protect waterways or planting hedges to reduce soil erosion. Defra says the Capital Grants Scheme has been temporarily closed after unprecedented demand.Farmers and crofters held a rally to lobby the Scottish Government ahead of next week's Scottish budget. They want more money for agriculture, and a guarantee that it's ringfenced.The Welsh Government has backed down on its policy to insist farmers put 10% of their land into woodland. The decision came after farmers demonstrated against the Government's plans for its Sustainable Farming Scheme, which replaces the payments to farmers under the old EU Common Agricultural Policy. All week on Farming Today we've been digging into winter veg. Parsnips, carrots and sprouts are all firm favourites but today we visit a farm growing a relative newcomer, tenderstem broccoli. For farmers who grow it, it's labour intensive but high value.And we hear how Ivor, a detection dog, is sniffing out disease in trees. It's hoped Ivor and other sniffer dogs could play a key role in maintaining UK biosecurity and reduce the threat of serious pests and diseases that damage woodlands and commercial forestry. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Following the Budget, Caz Graham is in Cumbria to hear farmers' reactions to the news that inheritance tax will apply to farms from April 2026.The National Farmers' Union tells us farming is being "bled dry" and has "nothing left to give".The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner, confirmed that next year's farming budget for England remains unchanged at £2.4 billion.There was no mention of nature in the Chancellor's speech, something the Wildlife Trusts highlighted, saying "the UK Government must commit to long-term strategic funding for nature's recovery and provide greater funding for environmental regulators".Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

How best to stop the spread of a tiny beetle that could have a huge impact on the future health and profits of UK forestry? From the end of this month all new planting of spruce, with a handful of exceptions, will be banned across much of the south east of England. The restrictions form part of the Government's plans to control the bark beetle, a pest which has caused significant damage to forests across Europe. It was first found in the UK in 2018, this latest measure is a new addition to current rules restricting the felling and movement of spruce trees, their bark and their wood.Environmental groups say the Scottish Government is failing the nation's marine environment by leaving large areas of the seabed unprotected. It's ten years since the introduction of Marine Protected Areas, but restrictions have still not been fully implemented. We're talking about how we manage water in the landscape all this week, so we've been to see how re-wiggling a river works on a restored floodplain in Wiltshire. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Dairy farmers are finding it a real struggle to recruit new staff, according to the farmer-owned dairy coop Arla. They spoke to nearly 500 UK dairy farmers and just under 90% of them said they had advertised jobs and had few or no applicants at all. So what's holding young people back from a life working with dairy cows in a career that can also involve robotics, veterinary science and data analysis to mention just a few of the skills involved in modern milk production? The UK is 97% self-sufficient in carrots, according to the British Carrot Association, but poor weather over the last year has meant supermarket shelves stocked with bags of carrots imported from China, Israel and other countries. Is that a trend that's likely to continue? We're talking about deer all this week, their impact on the environment and how to manage their growing population. Trees and woodlands are a key tool for combating climate change, improving biodiversity, building flood resilience and increasing the UK's supply of homegrown timber. But rising numbers of deer make planting more trees, and maintaining existing woodlands, a challenge because deer both graze on them and cause damage with their antlers. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

We've been reporting over the last couple of weeks about a £358m underspend over the last three years from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' £2.4 billion agriculture annual budget for England. Now, former DEFRA director and author of the National Food Strategy, Henry Dimbleby says it's critical that this money isn't lost from the farming budget. He also tells us what he wants to see in the government's new Environmental Land Management schemes, especially for upland farmers. Some upland farmers who've spent years in what are called Higher Level Stewardship agreements, which pay for farming in a way that benefits the environment and wildlife, say there is nothing they can apply for under ELMs at the moment. We hear from one farmer in the Lake District about his frustrations with the new schemes. Increases in offshore wind means in turn that the electricity generated has to brought inland, often requiring new infrastructure. Miles of underground cabling is being channelled through the countryside, with some farmers having little choice about whether it goes across their land. The weather over the last year has had a huge impact on food producers across the UK. With the apple harvest underway, we speak to a cider apple producer who says he's lost trees because of waterlogged orchards.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Jo Peacey.

We've been reporting over the last couple of weeks about a £358m underspend over the last three years from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' £2.4 billion agriculture annual budget for England. Farmers are furious at the scale of this underspend and there are concerns that the money will be lost for good in cuts in this autumn's government spending review. Now a former Defra director says it's critical that this money isn't lost from the farming budget. Henry Dimbleby was Defra's lead non-executive board member for five years up until spring last year when he resigned over what he said was the then Government's failure to tackle obesity, something he'd highlighted as a priority in his independent National Food Strategy, commissioned by the Government. An animal welfare charity says it's filmed tonnes of dead and dying salmon being removed from a fish farm just hours before Members of the Scottish Parliament visited the site for a fact finding mission. Holyrood's Rural Affairs committee visited Dunstaffnage fish farm near Oban on Monday as part of their inquiry into whether the industry's made progress in tackling significant environmental concerns. The campaign group Animal Equality has accused the industry of trying to cover up the fish deaths, but Scottish Sea Farms who own the farm, says the workers were carrying out routine clearance of the pens. The need for clean energy has led to a large increase in offshore wind farms and electricity generated in them has to be brought inland. That means hundreds of miles of underground cabling is being channelled through the countryside with some farmers having little choice about whether they go across their land. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Britain's declining wild bird populations will only recover if more farmland is set aside for conservation, says the RSPB.A legal challenge to a new forest on a vast moorland in the Scottish Borders has forced its owners to stop planting. As the Met Office predicts another autumn and winter of destructive floods, a number of flood defences in England damaged during last winter's storms are yet to be fixed. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

More than 50 minke whales and basking sharks get tangled up in fishing gear around the Scottish coast each year. We hear about efforts to stop it from happening. The fishing industry wants the Government to negotiate a better deal for fishing for cod in Norwegian waters.With energy prices rising this Autumn, the ability to generate your own power is increasingly attractive to farmers. Growing crops like miscanthus or willow to harvest and burn to produce your own on-farm electricity is one way of doing it.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Small livestock farms are most at threat from cuts to the agriculture budget yet are in areas of the country that we most need to invest in, for nature, climate and public access; that's according to environmental thinktank the Green Alliance.Caz Graham visits the Westmorland County Show, just outside Kendal in Cumbria, to discuss sheep, cheese and politics.Produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Four cases of bluetongue have now been confirmed in sheep on farms in Norfolk and Suffolk. The virus, which is spread by biting midges blown into the UK from northern Europe, is currently widespread in the Netherlands with further cases in Germany and Belgium. As well as sheep, it affects cattle, goats, deer and camelids but not humans, nor does it pose any risk to the food chain. Harvest is in full swing for many farmers and we've been seeing how it's going all week. In Cornwall on the Tregothnan Estate they're harvesting tea with a solar-powered robotic tea picker.Oilseed rape can be high risk: pests like cabbage stem flea beetle can wipe out a crop, and some pesticides which growers once relied on are now banned. We hear from a farmer in the Cotswolds who, in spite of the challenges, has created a booming business selling cold pressed rapeseed oil as a British alternative to imported oils. We announce our Farming Today finalists in the 2024 BBC Food & Farming Awards.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Businesses that import meat could have to pay up to six times more than they were expecting to get each lorry through border checks; that's according to the British Meat Processors Association. Since April businesses that import through Dover and the Eurotunnel through Folkestone have been paying what's called a Common User Charge.Bracken is a large and very prolific fern, and it can be a big problem for farmers, particularly in the uplands. It eats into grazing land, it harbours ticks and it's difficult to control, especially since last autumn when Asulox, the only herbicide used to kill it, became permanently withdrawn from the UK and Europe. The Innovative Farmers Network has just started trialling non-chemical approaches to bracken control, one of which involves using cattle to trample it. Curlew are an iconic and beautiful bird of moorland and wetland areas, but curlew numbers have diminished significantly over the last few decades, placing them firmly on the RSPB's red list. A project in Wales, funded by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, is using drones to locate nests which can then be protected. All week on Farming Today we've been visiting rural communities all around the UK's coastline and finding out how they're meeting the challenges they face. Sarah Swadling has been to the Devon village of Beer to find out how they're keeping the community and tourism vibrant.60 years ago, the first ever BBC Radio 4's On Your Farm programme aired, as an early morning outside broadcast from a family farm in Rutland. To mark the programme's diamond anniversary, Vernon Harwood has visited that same farm to discover what's changed over the past six decades.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

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.

...in which, guest presenting for Mark and Dave, Radio 4's Caz Graham dons her boots for a day on the farm with organic dairy farmer, Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network and one of Cumbria's farming heroes, James Robinson. In a wide-ranging conversation with fifth-generation farmer 'James from Strickley' – in the shadow of The Helm – Caz and James delve deep into the world of regenerative farming, talk new life in a rewiggled Saint Sunday's Beck and discuss the beauty, utlity and nature benefits – 98 bird species! – of James' beloved laid hedges, as articulated by visting poet and beatboxer Testament. Looking back at old farm diaries, Caz is wowed by historic entries that juxtapose the whitewashing of cattle shippons with a collapsing world order. Surveying a farmed landscape with views to Morecambe Bay, James reflects on the John Marsden adage that you should 'Live as though you'll die tomorrow, but farm as though you'll live forever', and – following an invite to discuss farming at Number 10 – calls for ministers to engage in joined-up thinking that aligns farming and food production with health, access to the countryside, education and social care. James can be found at: x.com/JRfromStrickley Strickley's website is at visitmyfarm.com ‘The Lig' by Testament comes courtesy of We Feed The UK – a national arts project pairing award-winning photographers and poets with the UK's most inspiring regenerative farmers and food producers. See wefeedtheuk.org for more information Caz can be found at x.com/CazGraham1

Fishing is a very popular pastime. In England alone, the Environment Agency issued more than 900,000 fishing licenses between March 2022 and April 2023. But illegal fishing on rivers and watercourses is on the up, according to the police, who are stepping up patrols with other agencies. Angling clubs pay thousands of pounds every year to stock rivers with fish for members and taking fish without permission is theft. Better training of police in poaching laws has, however, led to a recent spate of convictions and a legal first for volunteer river bailiffs.A new housing development in Essex is welcoming some new arrivals, but they're not excited home-owners. That's because houses on the estate at Manningtree come complete with their own flock of sheep and a full-time shepherdess.We're talking about trees all this week and today it's the threat to our trees from pests, pathogens and disease. Climate change, pollution, land use change and invasive species are all making trees more vulnerable to pests and diseases, like ash dieback. It was first detected in the UK back in 2012, since then it's swept across the country with devastating effect on our third most common broad-leaved tree. According to the Woodland Trust, ash dieback will eventually kill up to 80% of ash trees across the UK. Dead trees are dangerous trees, so local authorities are spending millions of pounds managing trees that are deemed unsafe. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Changes to farm support payments after Brexit, increasingly unpredictable weather, not to mention a cost of living crisis means farmers are relying more on additional income streams to boost their farm profits. We're going to be looking into farm diversifications all this week, and while you might think the most common sources of extra income would be accommodation for tourists and things like farm shops, in fact letting out buildings for businesses and producing solar energy were the top two diversifications in 2022 - 23, according to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. It's an election year and the controversial topic of hunting is being raised again; the Labour Party has vowed to ban hunting with dogs completely in their first 5 years of government. Fox hunting's been banned in England, Wales and Scotland for twenty years now, but hunting groups are allowed to lay a ‘scent trail' for hounds to chase. Trail hunting is controversial, with some hunts accused of using it as a smokescreen for hunting foxes. Just last month one hunt member in Wiltshire was sentenced for helping throw a live fox to hounds, and a different hunt, in Warwickshire, was charged over the alleged death of a fox. But a leading wildlife campaigner and hunt saboteur says he thinks one hunt in Sussex is now paving the way for how trail hunting could be done around the country in a pared down and more open way. New varieties of organic hops that are resilient to climate change are being trialled by British beer makers. The Innovative Farmers Hop Trial aims to boost the cultivation of UK crops after falling production levels.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Thousands of discontented farmers gathered outside the seat of the Welsh Government, the Senedd, in Cardiff Bay, this week in what was probably the biggest farmer protest seen in the UK in recent years. They're unhappy about various aspects of agricultural policy including the new Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme, which is heading into its final week of consultation. The scheme is to replace the system of subsidies that operated under the EU's common agricultural policy, and to claim it farmers need 10% of their land under tree cover and a further 10% used for wildlife habitat. Farmers say it's unworkable, but conservationists say it'll protect farming as well as nature. We also look at the state of British Rivers. It coincides with the publication of the Rivers Trust's annual report, which shows that no single stretch of river in England or Northern Ireland is in good overall health. We hear about projects by charities and farmers that are aiming to improve the situation. Presented by Caz Graham

Farmers in Scotland want to see cuts to the Holyrood agriculture budget reversed and an extra billion pounds worth of funding to farmers across the country from the UK Government. Both issues were raised yesterday at the NFU Scotland conference that's taking place just now in Glasgow. National Farmers Union Scotland members are expecting to be joined by First Minister Humza Yousaf this morning. He'll be joined by Scotland's Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Mairi Gougeon, for what may well be a rather heated question-and-answer session. Conservationists say more should be done to preserve and restore Britain's temperate rainforests. These ancient woodlands have a mild and damp climate and support species like mosses and lichens. They may once have covered about a fifth of Britain but now just fragments of the forest remain. In December the Government pledged £750,000 for research but campaigners say more needs to be done.These days it's rare to get eggs delivered. But if you live in the village of Sibford Ferris near Banbury you could get your eggs delivered by goat. All this week we're hearing about working animals. Sue Sabin has been running an egg round for the last fourteen years with Alan, her pack-goat. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

This week marks 20 years since the Morecambe Bay cockling disaster. 23 Chinese migrants lost their lives after getting cut off by the Bay's notoriously fast flowing tide while gathering cockles. Those who drowned were found to have been illegally smuggled into the country and were working as forced labour for criminal gangmasters. The tragedy paved the way for the creation of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority in 2005 and to this day, anyone supplying workers into the shellfish sector, and into agriculture and horticulture, requires a licence with what is now the GLAA, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.The Northern Ireland Assembly has been meeting at Stormont this week for the first time in two years. There's a whole new executive, finding their desks and their feet, including a new minister for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. It's Andrew Muir, an Alliance party member, who's been visiting Lough Neagh.From sheepdogs to birds of prey, we're hearing about working animals on the programme this week. The shire horse was the original workhorse, essential for heavy farm work like ploughing before the tractor took over. Today the breed is considered endangered but there are still a few working shires left, like the ones at Hook Norton Brewery in Oxfordshireshire, where they're used for delivering beer.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

A forester from Moray in North East Scotland says he may have to destroy millions of trees after the Scottish Government slashed the budget for new tree planting. Ronald Christie from Fochabers says unless ministers change their mind, ten million young trees will have to be burnt followed by a similar number next year. The Small Robot Company were hailed as the future of small-scale automation for UK farmers. But in May last year their major investor withdrew its funding. They did find another and launched a crowdfunding campaign, but couldn't raise the amount needed in time, and now the company has gone into liquidation. One of the founders tells us there's a crisis in UK agtech funding. All this week we're going to be hearing about working animals, and today it's sheepdogs, Vernon Harwood meets a champion sheepdog handler who has been working with dogs since he was nine years-old.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The Government is doing too little, too slowly, to meet its own environmental ambitions and statutory commitments, according to a report published today. We hear from the Office for Environmental Protection. The LAMMA Show, taking place in Birmingham today, has 600 exhibitors showcasing the very latest in farm machinery and innovation, everything from specialist soil-aeration machinery to farm solar energy systems, and of course, enormous tractors. Birdwatchers from across the UK have been flocking to a Derbyshire beauty spot to catch a glimpse of an exotic visitor. There have been near record sightings of the colourful waxwing this winter. They've been seen in one spot in the Peak District in their largest numbers since way back in 1970.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Roughly two thirds of ponds in England and Wales have been lost since the late 19th century, mainly because they've been filled in or drained so the land can be farmed, and unlike in the 19th century, they're not needed to water working horses any more. Now, scientists at University College London - along with the Norfolk Ponds Project and the Freshwater Habitats Trust - have produced a new guide to help farmers and landowners restore and maintain ponds. Kelvin Fletcher won Strictly Come Dancing in 2019, but before that he spent 20 years playing fictional farmer Andy Sugden in the ITV farming soap Emmerdale. He grew up in Oldham and, along with his wife Liz, who's also an actor, was a self-confessed townie. Until, in 2020, they bought a 120 acre farm on the edge of the Peak District. Caz Graham visits the farm to meet the family, along with their rare breed pigs. And one big attraction of regenerative farming is that it can save farmers money. It focuses on improving soil health, and means using fewer artificial inputs. Spend less on fertiliser and manufactured feed, and production costs go down. Some are now starting to find ways to market their produce at a premium. Presented by Caz Graham Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

After the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, Caz Graham hears from a range of experts about what it contains for farm businesses and the countryside. For many people a sticking point in regenerative farming is the herbicide glyphosate. It's used to kill weeds and cover crops before planting new seeds, so removing the need to plough. But there are concerns about the impact of glyphosate on both human and soil health. We ask which is worse or better - ploughing or glyphosate? Presented by Caz Graham Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

Known as 'black gold', cuttlefish is one of the most valuable species for fishing fleets in the South West of England. The Government is proposing new rules to safeguard numbers of the species but fishermen claim they could see 40% of their catch, and millions of pounds, lost without any real benefit to cuttlefish stocks. The proposal is to set a minimum landing size of 23 cm so any cuttlefish smaller than that would get thrown back. But cuttlefish don't live very long if they're out of water and so by the time they are measured and thrown back they'd most likely be dead. Regenerative agriculture has become a real buzz phrase in farming over the last decade. Very broadly speaking it's farming in a way that improves the soil, by removing or reducing ploughing and artificial fertiliser, using fewer resources for the benefit of the environment. It has farmers flocking to events like Groundswell, Carbon Calling in Cumbria and the Oxford Real Farming Conference to exchange ideas. Global food and farming businesses like Nestle, McDonalds and Unilever say they're doing it too. All this week we're going to be looking into regenerative farming: what is it, who is doing it and why. A fungus that's extremely rare in the UK has been found in Kent. Artomyces pyxidatus, also known as candelabra coral, was discovered by enthusiasts who weren't sure what it was. Kent Wildlife Trust says it was thought to have become extinct, with no record of it in the entire 20th Century. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Farmers who continually have bovine TB outbreaks on their farms should ‘find another business'. That was what Labour Welsh Senedd member Joyce Watson suggested on the floor of the Senedd earlier this week. Ms Watson was responding to a statement from the Welsh Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths about bovine TB. The Welsh Government published a new 5 year eradication plan for bovine TB earlier this year and the Minister was updating members on progress, announcing increased testing responsibilities from February next year. This Sunday sees the first screening of a short film about a long distance swim from ‘source to sea' along Cumbria's River Eden. It's part of the session on outdoor swimming at the Kendal Mountain Festival and was undertaken by a familiar voice on this programme, common land and uplands expert, Julia Aglionby. Her aim was not just to enjoy the swim but assess the health of the river. All this week we're talking about brassicas. Mustard is a specialist crop, mainly grown in the east of England for the company Colman's. The majority of mustard seed that's used in Europe is brown seed, grown in Canada and last year drought there caused a shortage. The mustard grown in England tends to be a white seed, but now work is underway to enable English farmers to grow a new overwintered brown seed so the mustard market can be less reliant on Canada. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The widespread use of fake evidence in planning applications from livestock farms may have led to increased water pollution in Northern Ireland, including the toxic blue-green algae we reported on this summer in Lough Neagh. That's according to the Belfast based investigative journalism network, The Detail. Since 2015 farmers in Northern Ireland wanting to build new sheds to house livestock like pigs and poultry have had to submit soil samples to show their land will be able to absorb the extra animal waste, or slurry, without it running off into rivers and causing pollution. A planning expert tells us there are systemic failures in environmental protection in Northern Ireland. Heavy rainfall in recent weeks has turned many fields into quagmires, making the harvesting of vegetables a particular challenge and that includes brassicas which we're talking about all this week on the programme. T.H. Clements is one of the country's largest suppliers of brassicas, with 11,000 acres in Lincolnshire and another 1,000 in Cornwall. Our reporter Bob Walker's been seeing how workers are currently braving the mud to bring in the sprout harvest. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Campaigners have launched a legal challenge to the Government over the rules about fertilising farmland with sludge from sewage works. The group alleges it's abandoned its pledge to protect farmland from harmful chemicals. All week we're talking about brassicas; and today it's cauliflowers. Phil Collins grows veg across 150 acres, just north of Devizes in Wiltshire, with 20 acres of brassicas. One of the biggest ever dam removals has been completed in Aberdeenshire. The Garlogie dam was built as part of a now defunct local hydro electric scheme in the 1920s. Its demolition opens up part of the River Dee to Atlantic salmon for the first time in more than 100 years. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The Government is reviewing livestock feed in the UK as we're out of step with the EU, and that includes feed made from insects. Farmed insects are a potentially sustainable protein source for pigs and poultry, replacing feeds like soy that are linked to deforestation. Processed insect feed is currently banned for livestock in the UK, but not in the rest of Europe. The concern here, is that insects can be disease vectors, particularly if reared on waste, and that using insect proteins could lead to outbreaks of diseases like BSE. But British insect farmers want the law changed to be the same as in the EU, and also want more flexibility on what insects bred for fodder can eat. The Red Tractor food assurance scheme now says it won't go ahead with its new green option until a National Farmers Union independent review of its governance has taken place. It also says further work on an environmental standard would “need to include more detailed dialogue with farmers and supply chains” and recognises it has been slow to fully understand the strength of feeling of its members on this issue. But consumers do increasingly want more information about the carbon footprint of food and retailers are keen to show they're working with farmers who are doing their bit for the environment. It does feel like winter's just around the corner, so all this week on Farming Today we are looking at how farms are getting ready for winter. We're used to seeing bare fields of frosty stubble once the temperatures drop, but farmers are being encouraged to help their soil over the colder, wetter months by planting fields with cover crops. We visit a farm in Fife that's been cover cropping for the last 8 years. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

How science is shaping British and global farming for the future. Assessors for Unesco have been visiting peatlands in the Flow Country in Scotland to see if it qualifies for World Heritage Status. All this week we're looking at herbs and how they're grown in the UK. Today we're heading inside a huge glasshouse. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Nearly 4,000 farmers who farm common land in England face delays to being able to apply for - and therefore receive payments from - the Sustainable Farming Incentive, the most basic element of the Environmental Land Management Scheme which is to replace the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. A farm worker in Wiltshire shares his recent experience of what happened when he confronted hare coursers. And why there's growing interest in using flax for sustainable fashion. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.

After the hottest June on record and weeks of wet weather afterwards, we ask how good will this year's harvest be. It's been like playing cat and mouse dodging the showers, and trying to get into the fields whenever the sun's out long enough to dry the crop. Last year's harvest was very good, 90% of it was in by now, and yields and prices were up too. This year is a different story. Whereas wine growers across the south of England are expecting a bumper harvest this autumn. Expectations are high and some smaller producers may even need volunteers to help pick the grapes. More than 80% of the UK's peatlands are in poor condition. In England the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has just given £16million worth of funding to 12 new landscape scale peatland restoration projects. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Which is better - roots deep in the earth or in a nutrient cocktail on a vertical farm? We hear about the biology of how salad crops are grown without using soil. As part of our week focusing on salad, we visit a micro-farm growing micro-greens. It's harvest time for broad beans, but one grower calls them “the forgotten vegetable”. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

As farmers share how their crops have been destroyed by dogs and walkers, and livestock have been scared by joggers, just how can the Countryside Code be better followed, publicised and communicated? A consignment of British sheep embryos was shipped to the US this week - it's the first time embryos have been allowed to be exported to the States, following the lifting of a 33-year-long embargo on lamb and embryos from countries where livestock has been affected by BSE. We explore the world of growing salad, from vertical farming baby leaf salad in a giant warehouse to growing microgreens in a home office. And an endangered bird species returns to Northern Ireland for the first time in years. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.

The first ever shipment of UK sheep embryos has just arrived in the United States. We ask how significant the trade could be and hear from one of the farmers exporting his flock's genetics. This week we're talking about salad. The University of Warwick has been awarded £1.4million by the Government to carry out research into the use of robotics in horticulture. Scientists and engineers are working with a large salad grower experimenting with new technology. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Water shortages in Suffolk have lead one water company to refuse connecting up new businesses who use a lot of water, or allowing more use of water of expanding business who also use a lot of water. Two lapwing breeding pairs and chicks have been found on a farm in Northern Ireland; it is the first time the endangered birds have been seen in the area for several years. And an expert in crop and environmental science shares his thoughts on the state of salad production in the UK this year. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.

The price of petrol in rural areas: supermarkets charge up to 15p more per litre if you live in the countryside. The Climate Change Committee has called for a 40% increase in hedgerows in the UK by 2050 to help tackle global heating. Defra says it wants to create or restore 45 thousand miles of hedges in England by 2050, and is asking farmers how it can support them to achieve that goal. It's a far cry from the post-war farming policies that led to hundreds of thousands of miles of hedges being ripped out. And can the River Wye look forward to a cleaner future? Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The latest figures for the brood management trial for hen harriers have been released. The Welsh Agriculture Act has received Royal Assent. And, how hedgerow management makes a difference to farms and the land. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.

Petrol prices have hit their highest in the past six months, but why does it cost more to fill your car in rural areas compared with urban ones? A countryside charity releases its latest report into the use and future of green belt land in England. How hedges can be used for shelter on farms. And the Farming Today finalists for the BBC Food and Farming Awards are revealed. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.

Organic farmers and businesses in Wales say they have been 'forgotten' by the Welsh government; they say millions of pounds worth of support is being withdrawn under the new farming policy proposals. The 1947 Agriculture Act aimed to get farmers producing more food to shore up Britain's self sufficiency following the pre-War depression, and it rewarded farmers financially for removing their hedgerows. Decades later, hedges are increasingly being reinstated. How musical collars instead of fences are keeping cattle in their fields. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.

The largest poultry processor in the Wye catchment area has announced litter from its supply chain will no longer be available for sale, as fertiliser, within the Wye catchment, as a way to help better manage their supply chain, in relation to the health of the River Wye. A conservation group responds to the news. NFU MIdlands members are asked for their thoughts on the government's hedgerow consultation. And a fifth generation farmer in Kendal shares why hedgerows are not just important for farming, but local history and culture, too. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Rhiannon Fitz-Gerald.