Farming Today
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Farming Today
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside
Recent Episodes
350 episodes
Farming Today This Week 05/09/26 Bluetongue; food security; data centres; river DNA testing; corncrakes; dung beetle vet.
As the UK experiences its worst ever outbreak of the livestock disease bluetongue, we find out how government vets and scientists are coping as they d...
04/09/26 National Audit Office report on food security resilience, corncrakes, late strawberries
How well prepared are we for a major threat to our food security? Not quite well enough, according to the National Audit Office, which is publishing a...
03/09/2026 Scientists dealing with bluetongue, Lough Neagh sampling, Normandy food producers.
As the UK experiences its worst ever outbreak of the livestock disease bluetongue, we find out how government vets and scientists are coping as they d...
02/09/2926 Data centres on farmland, harvest in Uist, River Tweed.
The many pressures on land use are coming into sharper focus in Scotland where opposition is growing to a series of large AI data centres planned acro...
01/09/26 Crisis loans, pasture for drought resilience, river DNA testing
Farming groups from around the country are pressing for what they are calling 'a government-backed, interest-free Keep Britain Growing Loan' which the...
31/08/2026: Wildlife corridors
Anna Hill travels on a safari with a difference, across North Norfolk, to discover how dozens of farmers have joined together to create connected corr...
29/08/2026: bluetongue, future crops, lavender farm
With the livestock disease bluetongue still spreading across the UK, we speak to a Dutch vet about how they coped with a massive outbreak there in 202...
28/08/26 Licensing firearms and shotguns, lavender in the Lakes, gene-edited salad crops
The system for licensing firearms and shotguns in England and Wales is not fit for purpose and should be replaced to ensure public safety. That’s the...
27/08/2026: Beef imports, Miscanthus
Farmers in the UK are urging the government to ban imports of beef from Brazil amid fears that it's not produced to the same high standard. The EU and...
26/08/2026: gene editing, Bernard Matthews factory closure
UK scientists working on gene-editing of crops will get access to European markets after the European Parliament voted to relax rules around the pract...
25/08/2026: Milk prices, bluetongue, future crops
The drought, and the livestock disease bluetongue, are having an effect on milk production, with yield down by 1.5 milllion litres every day, accordin...
24/08/2026: bluetongue, future foods, farm app
More cases of the livestock disease Bluetongue have prompted the Scottish Government to impose tighter movement restrictions. It's the first year the...
22/08/26 Solar power - a panel discussion exploring the issues around solar development in the countryside.
It’s been a summer of drought, extreme heat for much of the UK, lots and lots of sunshine, and all week on Farming Today we’ve been talking about sola...
21/08/2026: Drought farmer, biodiversity on solar farm, choral work
We revisit a vegetable farmer who told us during the second drought in June that he was having to use extra water to try and get his crops established...
20/08/26 Salmonella in eggs, bees in drought, roof-top solar
The UK Health Security Agency is investigating the outbreak of salmonella that’s led to confirmed cases in more than 200 people, and the death of one...
19/08/2026 Village agricultural show
Caz Graham is at the Hawkshead Show in the Lake District, to see why local shows like this are so important to rural areas.
All over the UK, th...
18/08/2026 Bluetongue, solar farm row, vineyards
Supplies of the vaccine for the livestock disease Bluetongue are in short supply after a large outbreak in the south west of the UK. A mild winter, ho...
17/08/2026 Drought aid, Solar farms
The Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced a package of measures to help drought-hit farmers in England, saying food production is national securit...
Farming Today This Week: New drought package for farmers, bluetongue, brassica crisis, hot salads, B12 peashoots, cherries.
The Prime Minister's due to announce a package of support to help farmers in England cope with the drought. The measures will include putting an extra...
14/08/2026 Brassicas, cherries, salad
Brassica growers are warning their crops are in crisis after the relentless heat has left them stunted or dying in the ground. The British Growers Ass...
13/08/26 Bluetongue in sheep, growing more UK fruit and veg, B12 in salads
Bluetongue, the livestock disease that is transmitted by midges, is spreading, especially in the south west. It affects farm animals including sheep a...
12/08/2026 Controversial cattle cull, impact of drought on fish stocks, salads.
Feelings are running high amongst farmers in Northern Ireland over a cull of 51 cattle. It was carried out in June by a humane slaughter team from the...
11/08/2026 Impact of bluetongue on farmers, harvest in Europe, glass house salads.
Livestock farmers in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset are at the centre of the current outbreak of bluetongue and cases are rising rapidly. Bluetongue can...
10/08/2026 Financial planning, farming in drought, salad
The finances of farming in and after a heatwave.
And salad - endless sunshine and no rain isn't ideal for many crops, so prices are up as UK sup...
Farming Today This Week: Bluetongue cases continue to rise; impact of climate change on this year's harvest
Farmers are being 'strongly urged' to vaccinate sheep and cattle to protect them from the rapid spread of bluetongue. The UK's chief vet says vaccinat...
07/08/2026 Resilient crops for a changing climate, planting in a drought, Sheeted Somerset cattle
In the light of this summer’s dismal harvest, we hear of work to make the UK’s arable crops more resilient in a changing climate.
With the hot d...
06/08/26 Bluetongue cases on the rise, vaccination and testing for the disease. Harvest in Perthshire.
Farmers are being 'strongly urged' to vaccinate sheep and cattle to protect them from the rapid spread of bluetongue. The UK's chief vet says vaccinat...
05/08/26 Scottish first minister on farming resilience; the cost of drought; harvest in Cumbria
Scotland's first minister John Swinney has been speaking about the future for Scottish farmers and crofters while touring the country visiting summer...
04/08/26 Wheat harvest, waste whey, sheep farmers at risk from disease
Official figures show the harvest this summer is the earliest in England for 20 years. All week we're following farmers around the country as they bri...
03/08/26 Wildlife in drought, harvest 2026
The drought is hitting nature; the Wildlife Trusts warn that rivers, lakes and wetlands are under immense strain, leaving animals struggling to surviv...
Farming Today This Week 01/08/26 Drought, water abstraction, food inflation, bluetongue, young Cornish dairy farmer.
The whole of Wales and half of England are now officially in drought. For farmers the impacts are huge. There are concerns about a shortage of feed fo...
29/07/26: Cairngorms wildfire two weeks in, South Wales hare coursing, wildflower seed farm
The fourth heatwave of the year in the UK is still making the daily farming jobs a struggle for many. But this year the dry weather and heat have also...
31/07/26 Calls for a food system change, the reality of farming in drought, pressure on rivers
As drought spreads across the UK we hear calls for our water and food systems to change. The lack of water, the miserable harvest and an unpredictabl...
30/07/26 Drought, food inflation, bluetongue
Half of England is now officially in drought. The Environment Agency says it will enhance its monitoring of water levels and crucially for many farmer...
28/07/26 Campylobacter in chickens, community market garden, research anniversary
New research shows campylobacter - which causes gastro-intestinal illness in humans - is becoming more resistant to antibiotics as the number of inten...
27/07/26: Fresh produce checks, hot lettuce, BBC Farmwatch.
The UK's fresh produce trade body has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham asking him to scrap proposed border checks on fruit, veg and flowers, whi...
25/07/26 Farming Today This Week: What's the best use of land in Wales?
Charlotte Smith presents a panel discussion programme at the Royal Welsh Show, asking 'what's the best use of land in Wales?' With the Cabinet Ministe...
24/07/26: Drought declared in North Wales, investing in water security, river pollution in Pembrokeshire.
July is on course to be the driest in Wales for almost 190 years. It means that North Wales and the Upper Severn catchment are the first areas in the...
23/07/26 Royal Welsh Show
Charlotte Smith is at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show in Builth Wells. She meets the Welsh Government's Cabinet Member for Rural Resilience and Sust...
22/07/26 Sugar beet factory closing, new Defra secretaryfarm fires, , oil seed rape harvest, hill farming in Wales
British Sugar's factory at Cantley in the Norfolk Broads is to close, in February next year. Hundreds of farmers will now have to transport their crop...