The UK has temporarily banned all imports of pig products from Spain afrer an outbreak of African Swine Fever in wild boars there. It's their first case since 1994. The disease is spread by ticks and can be devastating to commercial herds. The National Pig Association here says it's vital our government puts adequate controls at borders to keep the disease out.
Northern Ireland has had its first case of bluetongue, in County Down. The government has introduced a 20km restriction zone to control the spread. There have been around 200 cases in England and Wales this year, though none in Scotland.
A farmer is calling on the Scottish Government to fund a multi-million pound dairy development programme, which would encourage farmers to keep cows with their newborn calves for longer. David Finlay has been pioneering the unconventional system on his farm near Kirkcudbright - which is now the largest commercial 'cow-with-calf' dairy in Europe.
And all this week we're looking at the jobs farmers need to do over winter - today, cleaning up ready for next season.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sally Challoner.
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01/12/25 Government's environmental improvement plan, water management and flooding, hedge laying
The government's new environmental improvement plan for England is launched today. The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs has set out what it calls 'an ambitious roadmap' with a 'clear plan to restore the environment.' That encompasses a new plan to stop pollution from forever chemicals, tougher measures on waste crime and more tree planting. They also highlight £500 million worth of funding for the landscape recovery schemes, long term, big scale projects where landowners work together to improve nature. We ask Wildlife and Countryside Link, a coalition of 94 environmental and wildlife groups, what they make of the plan. Storm Desmond hit the North West of England 10 years ago and brought record breaking amounts of heavy rain: a month's worth fell in just 24 hours. That led to flooding, bridges, roads and livestock were washed away, farmland ruined and thousands of homes inundated. The eventual bill for the damage was put at more than a billion pounds. In Glenridding in Cumbria the flooding led to a project working with farmers, nature and the landscape. Its aim: to try and reduce the vulnerability of the area to future flooding. All week we're going to look at the jobs left for winter when things on the farm are a bit quieter. We're starting with hedge laying: winter is the traditional time to tackle this - the birds have long finished nesting, and by partly cutting through the trees and shrubs that you lay over to form the hedge, you allow it to rejuvenate in time for next spring. Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
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29/11/25 Farming Today This Week: Farmer protests over the budget and inheritance tax, agriculture course suspended, dairy
Farmers were in London again to protest about the re-imposition of inheritance tax on farming and business assets of more than £1 million, something announced last year. In her budget, the Chancellor made a change to transferring inheritance tax allowances between spouses, but farmers said it wasn't enough.Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
36 per cent of people who live in rural areas or on islands in Scotland are considering leaving, blaming a range of things from healthcare and ferries to housing shortages. The majority who plan to stay praise the strong community spirit and quality of life. These are the findings of a new study from Scotland's Rural College. Researchers say rural and island areas of Scotland continue to face population decline and have looked at what happens in other countries - Canada, Sweden and Croatia - to see what might change the situation. Scientists are working on a project to use potato shaws, the green leaves from the top of the seed potato plant, which are currently discarded or ploughed back in. The University of Aberdeen believe they could be put to a more lucrative use: skin creams. All this week, we've been looking at dairy farming. Farmers are currently dealing with falling prices for milk as the world commodity price slumps. There is an exception to that. The prices organic farmers are getting have remained stable and and sales of organic milk products have increased slightly in the last 12 months.We visit a Lincolnshire farm with an uncertain future. Hannah Thorogood has spent 15 years building up an organic farm business with cattle, sheep and hens. She now runs the farm and farm shop with her twin daughters. However, Inkpot Farm, along with thousands of acres around it, is in the middle of a proposed site for a giant reservoir.Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Rebecca Rooney
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27/11/2025 Budget and inheritance tax, farmer protest
Farmers were in London again to protest about the re-imposition of inheritance tax on farming and business assets of more than a million pounds - something announced last year. In her budget, the Chancellor made a change to transferring inheritance tax allowances between spouses, but farmers said it wasn't enough. Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
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