17/10/25 Farming minister on sustainable farming scheme and inheritance tax. Council farms in Cornwall
There will be no U-turn on the government’s plans for inheritance tax for farmers, according to the Farming Minister. Dame Angela Eagle says planned changes will go ahead in next month’s budget, in spite of press reports to the contrary. We also ask her about the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Some farmers are furious because they say the latest scheme, which has only just opened, comes far too late for those farmers who were looking for a replacement for agreements under a previous agri-environment scheme, the Countryside Stewardship scheme, which ends on 31st December.Several councils in England and Wales are carrying out reviews of their farm estates at the moment, including Powys, Dorset and Cornwall and all week we've been reporting on the issues affecting farms owned by councils. According to the CPRE, the countryside charity, there were 6,700 individual council holdings back in the 1980s, but that number has shrunk by almost two thirds, down to fewer than 2,300 now. Today we hear from a livestock farmer in Cornwall who's concerned about what could happen once Cornwall Council’s consultation comes to an end.
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16/10/25 Environmental scheme extension 'too late', The Windsor Framework 'overwhelmingly complex', county council farm incomes
"Too little too late", that’s what we’re hearing from some farmers who’ve already ploughed up and planted fields that were being farmed for nature. They say this is because the government took too long to come up with an extension to their environmental funding. A House of Lords Committee says the Windsor Framework, the post-Brexit agreement between the UK and EU that’s meant to simplify trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is "overwhelmingly complex". Powys Council has just closed a consultation on plans for a new farm policy, which includes the possibility of selling some of its council owned farms. The Council says incomes are too low and maintenance costs too high on some of its farms, but local council farm tenants hope farming will remain a key part of council plans. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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14/10/25 Microplastics and seafood, council farms, trade tariffs and farm machinery.
A new report says that the presence of microplastics in seafood has been overstated by the media. The paper, by researchers at Heriot-Watt University, says although media reports tended to concentrate on seafood contamination, the levels of microplastics in seafood is no greater than in other foodstuffs. It also says that dust and indoor air contain more microplastic particles than food.All week, we're taking a closer look at county council tenant farms. These farms have traditionally been a first step on the ladder, often for young aspiring farmers to get a foothold in agriculture. However county council tenancies have become harder to find and in recent years many cash-strapped councils have sold off a significant number of their farms. Not so in Staffordshire, where one young farmer Tom Chapman is building up his herd of sheep after securing a tenancy. Farm machinery manufacturers who export to the United States say their trade is being made 'almost impossible' after tariffs on steel and aluminium were extended. Originally tariffs on steel and aluminium were just for bulk items, but now, if a UK-made tractor is exported to the US, every steel or aluminium component - down to individual nuts and bolts - has to be taxed on the basis of where it came from, so the correct overall tariff payment is made. We speak to the Agricultural Engineers Association.Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
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13/10/25 Flood resilience, SNP Conference, county council farms
England's current approach to planning for floods is "underpowered and fragmented". That's according to a report from MPs which is published today.
The Environmental Audit Committee says the Government should set up a single joint flood reporting and information service and spend more on flood resilience, with a fairer funding formula for rural areas. The MPs say farmers can play a key role, for instance in storing water, but should be paid for their work. We've been talking to all the major political parties over the past few weeks, during party conference season. The SNP conference continues in Aberdeen today and with elections to the Scottish Parliament in May there is a lot to discuss.Over the past few decades many councils have been reassessing their property portfolios and council farms have been sold off. This week we'll look at why, and why some feel that's a mistake. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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10/10/25: Illegal waste dumping in the countryside, Plaid Cymru, HS2 compulsory purchases
We report on the increasing amounts of waste dumped in the countryside and how to tackle it.As party conference season continues, we're hearing from most of the major parties on their farming and rural policies. Agricultural policy is devolved and with elections for the Welsh Parliament in May next year, Plaid Cymru's conference this weekend may well be seen as a launch for that election campaign.Farmers whose land was compulsorily purchased say they're frustrated that they still can't buy it back. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
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