29/01/26 Sustainable food and what that means for farming

Scotland has introduced legislation to set legal targets on nature restoration and halt the loss of biodiversity. The Scottish Government says this will ensure that the country is 'on a bold ambitious journey to be nature positive by 2030'. The Natural Environment bill, which was passed by the Scottish parliament last week, also gives ministers new powers over land use and deer management. The right to roam in Scotland, which gives people access rights, is being 'hollowed out' by a lack of money according to a new report from the walkers’ group Ramblers Scotland. It says that some of the essential infrastructure needed to ensure the rights of both walkers and land managers has disappeared, with too few local staff to handle issues when people don't stick to the rules, and not enough money spent on maintaining paths. All week we're talking about new entrants: the people who come into farming with no family farm to work on, or inherit. The vast majority of farmers who own land pass it on to other members of the family, so it can be hard for people from outside the industry to get hold of land. Land is expensive too, which forms another barrier. Tenant farms where all or some of the land is rented make up about a third of farmland in England, but getting a tenancy is hard work and again requires some capital. One rural charity, The Addington Fund, has set up a new new entrant scheme to help people get a foot on the farming ladder.Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Sustainable Foods 2026: a conference in London which brings together big food companies, supermarkets, producers and scientists in a drive to transform our food systems - but what does it mean for agriculture?Flooded farmers say government needs to spend more on infrastructure to make rural communities are more resilient in the face of climate change.The secret lives of octopus, revealed in new report. Their numbers have increased dramatically - what is the impact on the fishing industry?Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The weather has dominated life for many this month, from storms and flooding in South West England to snow and rain in parts of Scotland, flooding in Northern Ireland and strong winds and rain across Wales. Rural communities and the leader of Devon County Council have called on the government for urgent financial support because of the impact of this month's storms, particularly on roads and railways saying more frequent rough weather highlights the need for more investment. All this week we are talking sustainable systems - whether that's how we farm or how we make farming a more economically sustainable and resilient business. The University of Lincoln has been working with a Nottinghamshire farmer on an innovative project called ‘Reverse Coal’, which has just won a national sustainability award. We visit Pollybell Farms to find out more about biochar.A tale of legacy, love and rare breeds: Clifford Freeman farms in Gloucestershire where he has the world's biggest herd of Gloucester cattle. He is also the custodian of his father's collections of rare breed sheep and pigs and vintage farm wagons. Eric Freeman was a farmer, broadcaster and rare breeds pioneer.Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Sustainable Foods 2026 - a conference in London which brings together big food companies, supermarkets, producers and scientists in a drive to transform our food systems - but what does it mean for agriculture? Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Warmer waters have brought large number of octopus to coastal waters around the South West over the past year. Now, the University of Plymouth has published a report bringing together evidence from scientists, the fishing industry and citizen scientists to reveal more about what's known as the 'octopus bloom'. What can it tell us about the changing marine environment, the consequences for sea life, and the impact on fishing?The on-farm science group BOFIN is starting a three-year £2.5 million project funded through Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme. It'll be growing the first commercial trial of precision-bred oilseed rape, which will be resistant to light leaf spot. Sheepdog training and competitions have captivated TV audiences for decades, and watching sheepdogs in action in the field is one of the privileges of farming. We speak to sheepdog trainer Nij Vyas as he puts one of his students through her paces.Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

The Government's new Warm Homes plan has been set up to help people switch to eco-friendly heating systems for their homes, such as air source heat pumps and solar panels. The scheme will provide £15 billion in grants. The five year plan has been welcomed by the energy industry, but some see it as a missed opportunity. We ask the Rural Services Network what's in it for rural communities.Vertical farming has been hailed as one of the ways to feed the world's growing population, expected to increase to nearly ten billion by 2050. Crops are grown indoors, under artificial light. This method of farming can use less water and fewer chemicals than outdoor crops but does use a lot of energy. We find out why Scotland’s Rural College has just opened its own full-scale vertical farm in Edinburgh.Making sure that a farm is sustainable and productive over the long-term - without ruining the environment or damaging wildlife - can be expensive. A young food activist and a farmer explore how this can be done with environmentalists and campaigners for better food networks.Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Forestry experts are warning that the UK needs to plant more trees for timber. We import around 80% of the timber we use, but there are fears of a shortage of wood for house building, pallets or fencing if more conifer plantations aren't created. MPs on the all party group on forestry are discussing the issue. We speak to the industry body Confor which says we can grow they type of wood we need.Feijoas are a popular fruit in New Zealand but a bit of a mystery to most Brits. The fruit isn't really imported and until now it wasn't grown here. Well, that changed when a New Zealander in Sussex had an idea. We meet the couple behind a new growing enterprise.All week we're focusing on sustainability in farming, whether that's from an environmental point of view, resilience in supply chains or from a financial perspective. Farming is seasonal and unpredictable, which can make it hard to plan financially - veg growers for example find it hard to predict how much they'll earn from one month to the next. Margins are tight and prices don't necessarily reflect the cost of production. We speak to a producer and campaigner who's part of a cooperative which would like to see a basic income for all farmers.Presenter = Charlotte Smith Producer = Rebecca Rooney

UK dairy farmers are living through what's been called the sharpest milk price drop in history. We look at the causes with dairy analyst Chris Walkland.Earlier this week, the author of a Government commissioned review of profitability in farming, former National Farmers Union president Baroness Batters, was questioned by MPs. She told the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Committee that civil servants needed to spend some time 'in the lambing shed' to understand farming more fully, and that farmers also needed to understand more about Whitehall culture.England's Farm Business Survey figures for 2024-25 showed that incomes increased by 49% on average across all farm types. Business consultant, James Webster-Rusk, explains that the headline figure conceals difficult times for arable farmers, and that diversification as well as environment scheme payments are the difference between profit and loss for many farms.And...feeding livestock in winter, a new crop to cut costs on a Welsh dairy farm, the impact of drought in Herefordshire, organic farmers grappling with updated rules, and we jump into the lorry of a hay merchant delivering to the Isle of Lewis.Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Sarah Swadling

The effects of volatile international markets are currently being felt in the bank accounts of UK dairy farmers. Milk prices paid by processors started tumbling in the autumn and there’ve been further drops this month. Dairy Analyst Chris Walkland discusses the impact of President Trump's trade policy on milk production in the US, which has coincided with a boom in UK and European milk output...leading to a bust. We also consider whether further US trade tariffs as leverage over Greenland could further destabilise dairy trade.We meet a Welsh farmer adding Sunflowers to the cattle feed crops grown on his farm, to cut his feed bill in volatile times. The European Parliament has voted to refer a deal with the South American trade bloc Mercosur to the European Court of Justice, in a move which could see a two year delay in the agreement coming into operation, or even derail it altogether. The European Commission signed the deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay on Saturday. But yesterday MEPs decided its legality needs to be tested. If a water company pollutes rivers or releases sewage illegally, it can be taken to court and fined. The government has just announced that it’s reinvesting £29 million pounds from these fines into more than 100 projects to improve 450km of rivers, restore 650 acres of natural habitats and plant 100,000 new trees. The money collected from precious water company fines between April 2022 and 23 was put into a Water Restoration Fund and it’s already being spent on local projects. We visit one, on the River Witham in Lincolnshire.Presenter: Caz Graham Producer: Sarah Swadling

The smuggling of illegal meat is on the rise. Farmers are worried it could bring animal diseases into the UK. Europe has seen outbreaks of both African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth, neither of which affect humans but both of which can wipe out whole farms.Average income across all farms in England rose by 49 percent in the year from March 2024 to February 2025, with increases in all farming sectors, bar specialist pig farms and horticulture. That’s the headline from DEFRA’s newly published Farm Business Survey. So, are English farmers laughing all the way to the bank, and how do those figures sit alongside frequent reports about tough times for farmers with high costs, uncertain markets, more extreme weather events, and low confidence in new agri-environment schemes?It's mid-winter, the hungriest time of year for livestock, so all this week we're looking at the challenges of providing winter feed, be they financial or practical. It's tough enough when farmers are able to grow or make their own forage, but in the Scottish islands, where the land’s poor and the climate’s wet, crofters rely on hay and straw being brought in by lorry from the mainland. We join a haulier as he drops off bales in the Isle of Lewis. His family has been supplying forage to the Western Isles and Skye for three generations.Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney