01/11/2025: Drought, invasive species, waste

The government's Drought Group has warned of ongoing problems in the year ahead unless reservoirs and rivers get enough rain in the next few months. The hot dry summer has pushed many farmers to re-evaluate how they use water. We speak to an expert who works with farmers and landowners to plan and manage water use. This week on Farming Today we've been looking at invasive species - from the Asian hornet which is killing our native honey bees, to Himalayan Balsam which spreads quickly and can choke waterways. We hear from people and groups trying innovative ways to control or eradicate non-native invasive flora and fauna. And the environment agency and police are criticised in a new report from the House of Lords Climate Change Committee. It says 38 million tonnes of illegal waste is dumped each year, yet few successful convictions are achieved. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.

A Government commissioned review of the problems with farm profitability, carried out by Baroness Batters, is due to be delivered to DEFRA soon. It comes at a difficult moment for the arable sector in particular. One of the UK's biggest farming companies, Velcourt, has recently given notice to a fifth of the landowners it works with, that it will either leave or restructure contracts following negotiations. Velcourt's Group Chief Executive, Nick Shorter, tells Charlotte Smith that a painful period of adjustment will lie ahead as arable producers adapt to the harsh economic reality of life without subsidies. He says continuing to grow wheat and other crops at a loss will be unsustainable for individual farmers and for the wider industry, and there could be new business opportunities on unprofitable land. As the land is gradually being replenished by autumn rain we meet the scientists measuring soil moisture using cosmic ray neutron technology.And, continuing our look at tackling invasive species, how the distinctive buzz of the Asian Hornet could be key in tracking down its nests.Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Sarah Swadling

The Land Reform Bill is being debated at Holyrood and members of the Scottish Parliament will be voting on what’s been described as landmark legislation. If passed, the bill could allow the government to intervene in private land sales and require large estates to be broken up. The proposals are controversial with landowners and some opposition politicians. Defra has announced that an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone will come into effect in the north, central and east of England. Poultry keepers with flocks of more than 50 birds will be required to keep their birds housed. The Chief Vet says prompt action is needed to prevent further spread of the disease. Himalayan balsam is an invasive species which proliferates along riverbanks. Its spread has been very hard to control. Could a fungus hold the key to controlling it? Historic man made features that lie on farmland from ancient walls to Roman forts help form the character of our countryside. For farmers however, historic features on their land can often seem like a headache rather than something to celebrate because they need conservation standard maintenance and restoration which is expensive and requires specialist skills. Historic England’s ‘Countryside Stewardship Heritage Service’ wadvises farmers on how to get funding for this. We visit a farm in Cumbria where a 19th century bridge and an 18th century lime kiln are in need of some tender loving care. Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Multiple failures from the Environment Agency, a lack interest from police and a ‘woeful lack of successful convictions’. That’s what a House of Lords committee has found in its inquiry into ‘waste crime’. The inquiry from the cross party Environment and Climate Change Committee, says more than 38 million tonnes of illegal waste is being dumped each year often by organised crime groups involved in drugs, firearms, money laundering and modern slavery, and posing a serious environmental risk. Beavers were hunted to extinction in the UK around 400 years ago. But since 2009 they have have been slowly reappearing in UK, re-introduced by wildlife and conservation charities. In Scotland, Forestry and Land Scotland and the charity Trees for Life, have just relocated seven beavers into the Glen Affric National Nature Reserve.All week we're looking at invasive species. Zebra mussels grow to about the size of a fingernail and love to attach themselves to surfaces below the waterline, where they can do significant damage to things such as our water networks. We hear how South West Water is trying to stop them spreading through the waterways in Cornwall.Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Salad growers are warning that price increases for electricity will drive people out of the sector. Growers in the Lea Valley on the edge of London say they have large electricity connections for times of heavy use, but often use much less power. Since 2022 they've been charged based not only on what they use, but also on the size of the connection, and they say that from April next year those standing charges will effectively double. They say they should have government support to help meet the cost, like other sectors which are intensive users of energy.Carrots are the nation's favourite vegetable, regularly eaten by around three quarters of us and worth nearly £300 million a year in sales . They are in season in the UK nearly all year round thanks to specialised  growing techniques, including overwintering them in fields. Right now farmers are working hard to get them covered up before the first frosts. We visit a farm in the Vale of York as a layer of straw is put over the crop to protect it.  Zebra mussels, mink, floating pennywort and the Asian hornet - what they all have in common is that they are all here in the UK, but they shouldn't be. This week we are looking at invasive species. There are 2000 non native species in Great Britain, about 200 of them are classed as invasive and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, the government agency which works to tackle them, says14 new ones are identified every year.Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

The raw ingredients to make a pint all begin life on British farms whether malting barley, or cider apples and perry pears, or hops. For barley and hop growers 2025 has been a difficult year. It's been a happier one in cider and perry orchards. We meet a cider apple detective hunting for lost varieties in Somerset, and the award winning team preserving Gloucestershire's perry heritage.A review of environmental governance in Northern Ireland has called for a new independent environmental regulator to be established. And, the Scottish fishing industry is unhappy about the way the Westminster Government has distributed a fund to modernise the fleet, improve skills, and revitalise communities. Scotland will receive just under 8% of the fund despite accounting for 60% of the UK's fishing capacity.Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Sarah Swadling

"Anger, dismay and sense of betrayal”. That’s how the SNP described the response of Scottish coastal communities to the allocation of money to Scotland from the UK’s new ‘Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund‘ in parliament yesterday. The £360 million pound fund was first announced back in May and aims to modernise Britain's fishing fleet, enhance workforce skills, and revitalise coastal communities. However Scotland says it's getting less than 8 percent of the fund, despite accounting for more than 60% of the UK’s fishing capacity and producing more than 60% of UK seafood exports. A project in a tiny corner of Somerset is currently identifying and documenting the rich variety of apple trees around the village of Kingsbury Episcopi. The Kingsbury Pomona project, set up by pomologist or apple expert Liz Copas and cider maker Tim Gray aims to uncover lost apple varieties and help keep the different genetic strains alive. Farming is a long game, but there aren’t many who’ve been playing it quite as long as David Lightfoot from Cornwall. He started his career with a couple of cows he milked by hand and a few rented fields. He went on to farm for Prince Charles, before he became King, and now as he reaches his hundredth birthday he shares his farming memories.Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Northern Ireland needs a new independent environmental regulator, properly staffed and financially resourced to tackle the many challenges it will face. That’s one of the recommendations of a comprehensive review of the country’s environmental governance which its authors describe as a ‘call to action’. The review was prompted by a number of environmental concerns including extensive and repeated blooms of blue-green algae in Lough Neagh which supplies forty percent of drinking water. The report also said there was “starkly lacking clarity “ over roles, responsibilities and accountability. We speak to Dr Viviane Gravey from Queen’s University in Belfast who chaired the review panel.We’re talking about beer and cider all this week on Farming Today and one crucial part of beer is malting barley. We visit a maltster in the heart of Norfolk A new report says the UK must radically transform the way it produces and consumes food if it is to avoid a cycle of escalating crises. The authors say action is needed on a scale not seen since the Second World War to safeguard food security, protect public health and meet climate targets. The Roadmap for Resilience: A UK Food Plan for 2050 argues that urgent reform is essential to reboot the economy, reduce pressure on the NHS and prevent repeated shocks from rising food prices, supply chain disruption and climate disasters.Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney

It's a familiar idea that batteries store electricity and now a new European project, called Water Grid, is encouraging farmers to create ponds as 'water batteries' for storing rainwater, to draw on in times of drought. Researchers think they could even be used to top up rivers. The Water Grid project will run across 13 European countries, and the 22 partners involved are being coordinated by the Westcountry Rivers Trust.We visit the National Perry Pear Collection in Gloucestershire, as it's the season for pressing fruit to make perry. Thecollection has just won an award from the Campaign for Real Ale and Cider.The sugar beet campaign, or harvest, is underway but farmers are looking ahead to lower prices next year.Presenter: Anna Hill Producer: Sarah Swadling

An independent review of the way pigs are slaughtered has called for the use of carbon dioxide gassing to be prohibited, because it causes too much distress and pain to the animals. 90% of pigs reared in England and Wales are slaughtered this way. The report was carried out by the Animal Welfare Committee, an independent expert committee from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Scottish government and the Welsh government. It recommends that argon gas should be used instead. We speak to vet Dr Jane Downes, who led the Animal Welfare Committee at the time the report was prepared. We also speak to the National Pig Association.All week we're looking at beer and cider. One of the biggest cider producers in the UK, producing 65 million litres every year, is Westons, based in Herefordshire. The business started in 1880, and now works with 180 apple growers and orchard owners in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire – the heart of apple country. We visit the production line.Presenter: Anna Hill Producer: Rebecca Rooney