23/09/24 - Upland farmers in trouble, new planning proposals

We’ve been reporting over the last couple of weeks about a £358m underspend over the last three years from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' £2.4 billion agriculture annual budget for England. Farmers are furious at the scale of this underspend and there are concerns that the money will be lost for good in cuts in this autumn’s government spending review. Now a former Defra director says it’s critical that this money isn’t lost from the farming budget. Henry Dimbleby was Defra’s lead non-executive board member for five years up until spring last year when he resigned over what he said was the then Government’s failure to tackle obesity, something he’d highlighted as a priority in his independent National Food Strategy, commissioned by the Government. An animal welfare charity says it's filmed tonnes of dead and dying salmon being removed from a fish farm just hours before Members of the Scottish Parliament visited the site for a fact finding mission. Holyrood's Rural Affairs committee visited Dunstaffnage fish farm near Oban on Monday as part of their inquiry into whether the industry's made progress in tackling significant environmental concerns. The campaign group Animal Equality has accused the industry of trying to cover up the fish deaths, but Scottish Sea Farms who own the farm, says the workers were carrying out routine clearance of the pens. The need for clean energy has led to a large increase in offshore wind farms and electricity generated in them has to be brought inland. That means hundreds of miles of underground cabling is being channelled through the countryside with some farmers having little choice about whether they go across their land. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

As the first doses of bluetongue vaccine arrive in the UK, affected farms are to be surveyed about the impact of this latest outbreak. Unexploded Second World War bombs are one of the hazards for those aiming to restore a Welsh bog, Crymlyn bog sits alongside some major parts of Swansea's industrial heritage - an area targeted by the Luftwaffe.Farmers have been asked to comment on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework for England. The consultation closed this week - with the new Labour government promising a major overhaul in order to deliver more housing, infrastructure and green energy.Presented by Steffan MessengerProduced by Alun Beach

All week we’re looking at planning and the countryside. The government has announced plans for "brownfield passports", to fast track house building on brownfield sites. The countryside charity, CPRE, has welcomed the proposals to make brownfield sites the first choice for building new homes. It says we could build most of the homes we need on such sites and says this could be in rural areas, as well as urban ones. Green belt land was originally designed to protect the countryside from urban sprawl but some parts of it have been developed, and they are now considered ‘grey belt’ land. There’s a general acceptance that some of this land will have to be built on - providing space for some of the new 1.5 million homes the government's pledged to build over the next parliament. We look at two council areas - one where thousands of new homes have been built in the countryside, another which is creating 1000s of hectares of new green belt. 2024 is the year when payments to farmers in England, from the old EU Basic Payment Scheme, or BPS, really start to go down. They will be phased out completely by 2027. For instance, a farmer who used to receive £50,000 under the pre-Brexit scheme, will this year receive £26,000. Instead farmers can now sign up to a new agri-environment scheme: the Sustainable Farming Incentive, or SFI. It has more than a hundred actions for which farmers are paid. They’re designed to improve nature habitats, lessen flooding, improve soil health and provide cleaner water courses, and more. We visit a field event which helps farmers navigate their way through the new schemes. Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

The Labour Party conference is underway in Liverpool. Last week we heard from the Liberal Democrats and next week we'll report on the Conservative Party conference. Agriculture is a devolved issue, so the budget and how it's spent is up to governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed spoke at the Labour conference. He told us a land use framework will be published before Christmas, but details of funding for farmers will have to waiting until the chancellor's autumn budget.All week we're hearing how plans for new infrastructure are affecting farmers and their land. A row over whether farm land in North Yorkshire should be turned into a solar farm is going before a public inquiry. The tenant farmers at Eden Farm, Old Malton say a solar farm would make their business unviable. The developer says it’s listened to feedback, and reduced the solar farm’s size by a third.The number of cases of bluetongue disease in cattle and sheep has risen to 97. As a result the restriction zone has been redrawn and now covers all Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, all Greater London, Surrey and West Sussex. Previous restrictions in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and East Yorkshire remain in place.Apple growers tell us how the weather this year's affected them. One cider producer in Somerset says he's lost trees because of waterlogged orchards and the yield is way down. Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Farmers in the Lake District have lost an estimated 10 million pounds in funding, in a year - and some are now under severe financial pressure. So says the National Farmers Union, which claims there are limited opportunities for upland farmers to tap into the Government's new ELMS - Environmental Land Management schemes - which are replacing the old EU system of farmer support in England. We visit one farmer who says he's been left in limbo.The new Government wants to build more one and a half million homes over the next 5 years as well as developing more solar farms, wind turbines and the pylons to transport the energy. For some, all that equals the industrialisation of the countryside and a threat to food security. But the Energy and Net Zero Secretary, Ed Miliband, pledged to take on what he called 'the blockers, the delayers, the obstructionists'. This week on Farming Today, we look at the changing rules around planning and what that means for people who live and work in the countryside.Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Heather Simons

Radical changes to food safety are being proposed. The Food Standards Agency is discussing removing responsibility from cash strapped councils and relying instead on data collected by food companies and supermarkets. Chris Elliott, professor of food safety at Queen’s University Belfast and Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, says more work and more consultation is needed.As the Met Office predicts another autumn and winter of destructive floods, a number of flood defences in England damaged during last winter's storms are still yet to be fixed. And the National Farmers' Union has warned that many farms still in dire need of flood support.It's been 20 years since fox hunting was banned by Tony Blair’s government. Since then trail or drag hunting are two different ways of hunting without doing anything illegal. In drag hunting the hounds follow a non-animal scent laid by a drag pulled on a string, in trail hunting they follow an animal scent. Critics say trail hunting can be used as a smokescreen for illegal hunting and in its election manifesto Labour said it would ban trail hunting.Picking blackberries from the hedgerows, along with the wild damson and sloes, is one of those end of summer outings, marking the seasonal shift. September is also the biggest month for selling commercially grown blackberries. Growers say new varieties mean they're bigger and better and while sales are up about 6% year on year, they're nowhere near as popular here in the UK as raspberries. Is it worth buying blackberries, at £2 or more a punnet, when you can pick them for free? Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

A new report is calling for more investment in rural areas. The Rural Coalition says the English countryside has the potential to generate billions, but chronic underinvestment is costing jobs and money. Meanwhile, the Government is promising a "devolution revolution", with new mayors soon to be elected in Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire. So will that help when it comes to rural investment?Rural homelessness is often a hidden problem and it can be hard to find help and support. We visit a working farm in Somerset where the dairy house has been converted into a hostel for homeless people, who are also given the chance to learn rural skills.And storks died out in the UK 600 years ago. But after a re-introduction project on the Knepp Estate in Sussex in 2016, migrating birds are now returning to the country to breed. Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Heather Simons

Radical changes to food safety are being proposed. The Food Standards Agency is discussing removing responsibility from cash strapped councils and relying instead on data collected by food companies and supermarkets. Under plans discussed yesterday by its board the FSA would take direct control of things like hygiene and food standards for large companies, leaving local authority inspectors to concentrate on smaller businesses. It has piloted the idea, working with five retailers and says the system is 'suitably robust and proportionate' and gives more information on compliance than the current approach. Chris Elliott, professor of food safety at Queen’s University Belfast and Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, says more work and more consultation is needed.Technology should be used to combat food crime; the call comes from the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers and follows a report from the Food Standards Agency which highlighted 'new opportunities' for criminals. The number of curlews has dropped by more than half since 1995 and the bird is high on the Red List of endangered species. We hear how the farming community in North Wales is getting involved in conservation.How a charity which takes young carers farming and camping on Dartmoor is giving them a rare opportunity to get away from their responsibilities and out into the countryside. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

It is 20 years since fox hunting was banned by Tony Blair’s Government. Since then, those who enjoyed the sport have adapted to trail hunting instead. That is where a trail is laid across countryside for hounds and horse riders to follow. There is no kill at the end. However animal rights campaigners say trail hunting is a smokescreen for real hunting and Labour said it would ban trail hunting in its manifesto. The public were invited to attend trail hunts around the country to see how it works. We hear from people on both sides of the debate. Autumn is the natural peak-time for blackberries and picking them from the hedgerows, is one of those end of summer family outings, marking a seasonal shift. Farmers are also growing blackberries now - they're very different from the wild variety - huge, tasty, but obviously, not free. So is it worth buying blackberries? We speak to one grower.A conservation and farming charity, the Countryside Regeneration Trust is calling on the government to re-assess its advice about providing habitat for endangered lapwings. At the moment farmers get paid to help lapwings nest by making clear squares in the middle of cereal crops, but the CRT believe that’s not helping numbers increase, because the surrounding habitat doesn’t provide enough food for the birds.Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

It's party conference season and Farming Today will be covering the three main conferences. This week, the Liberal Democrats meet in Brighton. Their relative success in the recent General Election has given them a boost, and many of their new constituencies gained this summer are in rural areas. The big question is budget. Before the election the Liberal Democrats promised £1 billion a year more, for the Environmental Land Management Scheme which replaces old EU payments in England. Different changes are being made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Since the election, it's emerged the Conservative government underspent its DEFRA budget by £358m in the previous parliament. We speak to the environment food and rural affairs spokesperson for the Lib Dems, Tim Farron.All week we're taking stock of birdlife on farms. The RSPB says farmland bird numbers are still declining for some species, and more needs to be done to improve numbers through habitat creation, and changing farming methods. On the Lowther Estate, near Penrith, in Cumbria, recent changes in grazing, tree planting, even the introduction of beavers to help with wetland creation, are already having positive repercussions on both the range and number of birds choosing to nest and breed there.The UK has an estimated three million hectares of peatland, both upland and lowland, but it's believed about 80 percent of that is in poor condition. A new report from the International Union for the Convention of Nature shows progress has been made on restoring UK peatlands over the last thirty years but its Peatland Programme also reports that it's unlikely to meet the target to restore two million hectares by 2040.Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney