05/11/25 Preparedness for animal disease, bird flu housing order, seeds, oat genome.

As the number of bird flu cases across the country rises, DEFRA has announced bird keepers across England must house all poultry and captive birds if they keep more than 50 birds. Avian influenza is just one of the animal disease threats raised in a new report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. It says the government would not be ready for a serious national disease outbreak like BSE or foot and mouth because resources have been focused on tackling ongoing outbreaks of avian influenza and bluetongue.All week we're taking a closer look at the start of the farming process; seeds. Most farmers buy seeds of some kind whether it's growing a crop for us to eat, or grass seed for pasture, or wildflower mixes for pollinators. However growing crops to produce the seeds that farmers plant, is just as important. We visit a farmer in South Wales who's diversified and now supplies other farmers with wildflower and grass seed mixes.Plant scientists have mapped the genome of oats. Academics at the University of Aberystwyth say it will help plant breeders develop varieties better suited to cope with disease and climate change.Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

As part of our week-long focus on seeds we go behind the scenes at the Millennium Seed Bank in Sussex. It's celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Experts from Kew Royal Botanical Gardens collect, clean and curate wild seeds from around the world. They're stored in giant vaults and safeguarded for the future. This helps protect endangered species of plants, but scientists also germinate the seeds for use in conservation and agriculture.Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer= Rebecca Rooney

The government's announced the number of agricultural seasonal workers visas allowed for the UK for next year. 41,000 visas will be made available for horticulture and 1,900 for poultry. It's slightly lower than the current allowance, but the National Farmers Union has welcomed the announcement, saying it has been made in good time, so farms can organise recruitment ahead of next year's harvest. However the NFU says if the horticulture sector is to grow, it will need more workers in the future - and it is still waiting for details of a five-year plan from the government.All this week, we are talking about seeds. Today we visit a seed merchant who specialises in grass and wildflower mixes for environmental schemes. We hear how the business is affected by checks at the EU border and uncertainty over agri-environment schemes.How can farms stay profitable? And if the answer is by providing something other than food, what are the implications for domestic food production? After warnings that UK food production could drop by almost a third by 2050, we speak to a farmer who's moved away from growing fruit and cereals to diversify into a range of businesses to keep the farm afloat.Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

A cross party group of MPs are warning that UK food production could drop by almost a third, by 2050. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture also says that by 2050 - assuming all Government targets were met in full - almost a quarter of current UK farmland could be used for other purposes including renewable energy, housing, and nature restoration. The group is publishing a report today calling for the most productive farmland to be protected and for output to increase 30%, with 50% less environmental impact by 2050.The Ulster Farmers Union says it has no confidence in Northern Ireland's Department for Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs. The UFU says DAERA's handling of a range of issues, from TB in cattle to a Nutrients Action Programme aimed at improving water quality with better management of manure and fertilisers , has led to 'deep dissatisfaction' among its members. And we take a closer look at seeds on the programme this week.Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Sarah Swadling

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.

Pumpkin growers have had a nightmare year. The crop needs plenty of water and the hot summer made them ripen too early for Halloween. Cost of living pressures have also affected some farms running visitor attractions like Pumpkin patches.Drought could continue into 2026 for some parts of England. The National Drought Group met yesterday and warned that England would need 100% of its average rainfall to ease the situation, but only 2 months so far this year had seen that much rain.After 2 legal challenges the Government has published a new version of its Carbon Budget, which lays out how climate targets will be met towards the eventual goal of net zero in 2050. Green energy is the Government's headline, but what's in the plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming?We visit North Harris to find out what it takes to keep an island free of invasive species.Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Sarah Swadling

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