Farming Today

The Government has opened a consultation on its proposals to ban trail hunting in England and Wales. There’s already a ban in Scotland. The Westminster Government committed to stopping the practice in its Animal Welfare Strategy published in December. In trail hunting hounds follow a pre-laid animal-based scent. It replaced traditional fox-hunting after that was banned in England and Wales in 2004. Anti-hunt campaigners argue it’s a smokescreen for the continued illegal hunting of foxes. Instead they want ‘clean boot’ hunting, where bloodhounds follow the scent of humans, or strictly policed drag hunting using a non animal scent. Country sports enthusiasts say trail hunting takes place within the law, and those who do break the law are prosecuted under existing legislation.
This week we’ve been taking a whistle stop tour through the history of farming. Today we’re up to the Second World War. When it broke out, it quickly became clear that the British Government needed to completely transform farming practices in order to protect the country’s food supply. The wartime changes would leave a lasting legacy in the form of a modernised, mechanised industry...not without some negative consequences.
Presenter: Caz Graham
Producer: Sarah Swadling

The Scottish Government's published details of its support system for farmers. Agriculture is devolved and since Brexit, each of the UK's four governments has set up its own system for financially supporting farmers. In Scotland, farmers and crofters have been digesting the details of the new five-year plan. Payments will be allocated up to 2031 with the biggest changes coming in the last year. It's been broadly welcomed by NFU Scotland but others have described it as 'stuck in the past.'  
Leaders from the UK gas sector have written to the energy secretary urging the Government to help reduce the UK’s reliance on foreign gas imports. They say with war in the Middle East, ministers need to support the production of biomethane. Farming can play a significant part in producing biomethane as anaerobic digesters use a huge range of ingredients, including animal byproducts, non-food crops and food waste.
All week we're taking a step back in time and looking at some of the pivotal moments in farming history. Victorian innovation and technology lead to big agricultural and social changes. As populations grew rapidly, farmers in the 19th century strove to advance the way they grew crops, bred more profitable animals and took advantage of new inventions.
Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have called for the merger of the Environment Agency and Natural England. In a new report the committee criticises both organisations - saying that environmental regulators are 'spread too thin to protect nature while delivering reforms'. We speak to Wildlife and Countryside Link which represents dozens of conservation groups to see if they think a merger would work.
Farmers and crofters are calling for more help to control geese. Warmer winters mean more geese are staying in Scotland over the winter and farmers say they're ruining crops and soiling grazing. Some species can be shot, but others are protected. NFU Scotland is calling for urgent action to help reduce their numbers.

This week we've been taking a look back through history, to discover the foundations of our farming and landscape. If you've ever wondered why we have so many hedges or why rural Britain looks like it does today you have to go back to one of the most seismic events which happened over 200 years ago - The Enclosure Act. It not only shaped what we see in the countryside but also changed rural communities forever.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Conflict in the Middle East will continue to have an impact on global supply chains even after hostilities cease, so say The Agricultural Economics Society who are marking their 100th birthday at their annual conference in Oxford. Will it impact food prices in the supermarket too?
Seafood processors say they're concerned that imports of shellfish won't meet new regulations which recognise crustaceans like lobsters as sentient beings which can feel pain. Under the Animal Welfare Strategy they must be dispatched before they're cooked, as painlessly as possible.
All week we're taking a step back in time, and looking at the history of farming over the last couple of centuries. Today we're rewinding to experience the country's last remaining example of the medieval three field crop rotation system, in the village of Laxton in Nottinghamshire.
Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney

A farmer with six hundred tonnes of potatoes he can't sell is blaming changing consumer tastes. GB Potatoes says this year is a “tough market” for growers, as a bumper crop this year has caused an oversupply.
This week we're looking at the history of farming and what that tells us about what drives change in farming and food.
One of the biggest seed and chemical crop protection companies in the world is expanding their operation in the UK.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton