Farming Today

Over the past 75 years, the pattern of land ownership in the UK has changed dramatically. Farm businesses have grown larger, more farmers now own at least some of the land they work, and those who rent it are often doing so on shorter-term agreements. At the same time, there's growing interest from corporations, investors and lifestyle buyers, all competing for a stake in the countryside.
As part of a special week marking the 75th anniversary of The Archers and exploring the next 75 years of farming, today we're asking: who will own and run the farms of 2101?
We visit Eastbrook Farm in Wiltshire, home to Helen Browning, Chief Executive of the Soil Association. Despite farming there for decades, she doesn't own the land. We'll explore the succession challenges facing farming families in Ambridge and beyond, and ask whether the family farm will still be a recognisable feature of the British countryside 75 years from now.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Climate change is already reshaping the way farmers think. Wetter winters, hotter summers, and new pests and diseases are creating fresh challenges. At the same time, global instability, from conflict to trade disputes, has highlighted the fragility of food supplies.
As part of our special week exploring the next 75 years of farming, today we're asking: what should Britain be growing in the future?
We visit the John Innes Centre in Norfolk, one of the world's leading plant science institutes, where researchers are developing crops that could thrive in a very different climate.
We'll hear from Professor Tim Lang on how the UK can feed itself in an increasingly uncertain world, and from Scotland, where a warming climate may open the door to crops traditionally grown much further south, even as it brings new risks and pressures of its own.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

As part of a special week marking the 75th anniversary of The Archers and exploring what the next 75 years could hold for farming, today we look at how technology and AI could transform the way food is produced.
At Place UK, one of the country's biggest soft-fruit growers, automation and robotic harvesting are already being trialled, to help cope with labour shortages and rising costs.
We hear from Sir James Dyson, a major investor in farm robotics and AI, and from farmers in Northern Ireland who are already putting those technologies to work, using artificial intelligence to monitor livestock and automate everyday jobs.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

As The Archers marks its 75th anniversary, Farming Today is looking ahead to the next 75 years of British farming.
All week we’ll be imagining how agriculture could change, from how land is used to what crops we grow, using what technology and how the identity of farming itself could shift.
Today we’re in Inkberrow in Worcestershire, the village which inspired Ambridge and asking: what will we be doing with the land we currently farm over the next 75 years?
We hear from Jeremy Clarkson on how he sees the future of Diddly Squat Farm, from The Archers’ farming and countryside advisor Sybil Ruscoe, and from Wales, where how land is used is increasingly under debate.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The official estimates for England's harvest 2026 are in, and the figures from the governnment show that its the smallest harvest of both barley and oats since 2012. Wheat saw a small increase with losses in the South and East offset by a better harvest further North, and oil seed rape had a better year with a 6 per cent increase in yield. We hear from farmers who suffered in the droughts.
This week we've been exploring farm boundaries - from hedges and stone walls to barbed wire. We hear from people restoring ancient boundaries, and learn about the history of barbed wire from the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma.
The first cases of highly pathogenic avian flu in kept poultry have arrived in the UK - and as migratory wild birds start to arrive to overwinter here, poultry farmers are being urged to improve biosecurity. The case was reported in a backyard flock on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. Last winter free range flocks had to be kept inside to try to protect them from infection, and the UK Chief Vet says anyone farming poultry must now review and improve their biosecurity.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.