Farming Today Folgen

The Government has admitted that it unlawfully issued some licences for releasing game birds last year. The campaign group Wild Justice challenged the licences granted in the Deben Estuary in Suffolk and Breckland in Norfolk, saying that ministers had ignored the advice from the wildlife regulator Natural England, and that a proper assessment of the impact hadn't been carried out. By law under the Habitats Directive there must be an assessment of the impact of any release near Special Protected Areas, and advice from Natural England must be taken into account for a licence to be granted. While Defra concedes that it didn’t follow Natural England's advice and that the assessment it carried out wasn’t in line with the rules, it strongly refutes Wild Justice's claim that the decisions 'were tainted with the appearance of bias'.A new assessment of the UK vegetable oil harvest has been made and found that oilseed rape production this year could be reduced by as much as 38% compared to last year, partly due to less area planted but also because of the wet weather. Added to that, production of olives in Southern Europe is also facing climate challenges, and the price of olive oil has shot up.Some farmers coping with challenging weather will be thankful if they have income from a diversification on the farm. All week we're hearing how farms are running extra businesses alongside their core work. Tens of thousands of worms might not be the first thing you’d think of to help a traditional farm survive. But near Hereford, the Gorringe family have set up a sideline which is helping prop up their arable and beef business. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

A total wipe-out of crops is now a possibility for some farms - it follows the record rainfall over recent months. Crops on thousands of acres of highly productive land have been destroyed and even now fields are too boggy for machinery to harvest or plant crops for the months ahead. So what impact will this have on our fresh produce supply chains?Tenant farmers "can't be left to go by the wayside" - that's the message from the NFU Tenant Farmer Conference. English farmers who rent some - or all - of the land they work face many challenges at the moment. From landlords taking land back for solar farms or the ELMs environmental schemes, to rising rents and the phasing out of subsidy payments under the basic payments scheme or BPS.And we visit a former dairy farm where cattle barns have been turned into a microbrewery, a taproom and a wedding venue.Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

After farmers held protest against post-Brexit agricultural policy in Wales, is the new Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs ready for the challenge? In his first interview for the programme, Anna Hill asks him about the 10% tree policy, how they plan to tackle bovine TB and whether they're doing enough to clean up Welsh rivers.The Government has published its long awaited River Wye Action Plan, which includes the doubling of grants for farm slurry stores and up to £35 million worth of funding for poultry manure combustors. Campaigners say the river is in an ‘ecological death spiral’ and blame the spreading of manure from intensive chicken farming onto fields in the catchment, resulting in pollution going into the river. Research led by Lancaster University showed that 70% of the excess phosphate in the Wye, comes from agricultural waste.And many farms have ventured into retail and hospitality in the hope of selling some of their produce direct to customers. We visit a farm which has gone one step further, and as well as having a farm shop, butchery and cafe, it also rents farm buildings to other small businesses.Presented by Anna Hill Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons