Farming Today Folgen

'Shambolic', 'disheartening' and 'carnage' - some of the words being used by farmers to describe the application process for England's biggest farm environmental scheme that opened, and closed, on Tuesday. This is the Sustainable Farming Incentive, which pays farmers for environmental work, like planting hedges or improving soil. On Tuesday, the total budget available was £253 million, it was a first come, first served system, with thousands of farmers applying and in six hours all the money had gone.The millions of people in rural areas who rely on oil to heat their homes have seen prices rise by 40% in the past two months alone. They're not covered by the energy price cap, set by the regulator OFGEM, which limits the increase that most will see this winter because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Should the UK be growing more pulses? The Food Foundation looked into the potential for these crops and concluded that the UK could and should be growing more of them.Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The millions of people in rural areas who rely on oil to heat their homes have seen prices rise by 40 per cent in the past two months alone. They're not covered by the energy price cap, set by the regulator OFGEM, which limits the increase that most will see this winter because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. More than a third of households have no access to mains gas but instead rely on fuels like LPG or heating oil.The Government body which works to safeguard animal health and public safety has said lessons will be learned - and extra capacity put in place - to tackle future outbreaks of the livestock disease bluetongue. Earlier this month the Environment Food and Rural Affairs committee demanded an explanation for what it called a 'lack of preparedness for this summer's bluetongue outbreak'. And we meet a farmer who's found a way to turn the fava beans he grows into feed for his chickens. Mike Mallett is an organic egg and poultry producer in Suffolk. He has now cracked the problems of toxicity and nutrient availability by cooking the beans in a big roaster, and is now practically self sufficient in organic feed.Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.

'Shambolic', 'disheartening' and 'carnage' - some of the words being used by farmers to describe the application process for England's biggest farm environmental scheme that opened, and closed, on Tuesday. This is the Sustainable Farming Incentive, which pays farmers for environmental work, like planting hedges or improving soil. On Tuesday, the total budget available was £233 million, it was a first come, first served system, with thousands of farmers applying and in six hours all the money had gone. And baked beans - which we are talking about as part of our week looking at pulses. At the moment, all our baked beans are imported from China, Ethiopia, the USA and Canada. Three years ago, we visited Lincolnshire farmer Andrew Ward who was growing the first-ever British variety of baked bean. He's been working alongside the University of Warwick with a view to breaking into the market. This year he’s grown 42 acres nearly three times the amount he first planted in 2023. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.