A group of Labour MPs with rural consitituancies have urged the Government to think again on Inheritance Tax Changes, with some abstaining on a Commons vote on the issue earlier this week. This is the ongoing row over the Government's plan to re-impose inheritance tax on farming and business assets over a million pounds, which was introduced in last year's budget and is due to take effect from April next year. Ministers insist the plan is fair and say its time to move on.
The cost to arable farmers of this year's summer drought has been estimated to be £828 million. The think tank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit says farmers will lose the income as a result of what it says is the second worst UK harvest on record, where crops were hit by a very hot spring and summer as well as the resulting lack of water.
A pioneering project to help the crews on fishing boats manage the unpredictability of their earnings has been launched in Cornwall. Weather conditions, fuel prices and market demand can mean that one week crews will earn, but the next they won't, making budgeting tricky. Citizens Advice Cornwall says its led to problems - which is why, along with other local groups, it's set up Net Savings, a government backed collaboration to help fishing crews with financial advice.
And as part of our week-long look at winter jobs on farm, we meet a cider apple farmer who'll be tending his trees throughout the season.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.
There are warnings that an increase in the amount of sugar cane that can be imported into the UK tariff-free will impact British sugar beet farmers, who are already getting a lower price for their produce because of an oversupply of sugar. The government has announced that 325 thousand tonnes of raw cane sugar, sourced from anywhere in the world, will be tariff-free from 1st January 2026. That's a 25% increase by volume on previous years. Campaigners have warned a huge oversupply of battery storage sites for renewable energy is threatening to blight Scotland’s countryside. The charity Action to Protect Rural Scotland, or APRS, says a study it’s publishing today shows there is four times as much battery storage planned as we are likely to need for the transition to green energy. That, it says, means unnecessary damage, planning blight and lost farmland across the country.And we attend the sale of an unrivalled collection of vintage farm wagons and horse drawn carts - amassed over 40 years - which went under the hammer at an auction in Dorset. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sally Challoner.
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.
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