Farming Today

More government funding for security and extra spot checks is the only way to stem the tide of illegal meat being smuggled into the UK. That’s according to Dover Port Health Authority who say they intercepted more than 14.2 tonnes of illegal meat in the last week of March. It’s not just a health risk to those who might eat it, there’s also the danger of highly contagious animal diseases like swine fever and foot and mouth disease entering the country in contaminated meat. With foot and mouth outbreaks in both Greece and Cyprus last month, the threat to livestock here, is making farmers increasingly concerned.
Scientists at the Lincoln Institute of Agri-Food Technology are using geothermal energy to grow crops under glass. Unlike ground source heat pumps, which make use of solar energy stored in the ground, geothermal energy takes heat from the earth’s core. We speak to the scientists and growers who are testing out new ways of producing strawberries all year round.
Spring is in the air, or it certainly should be, and for arable farmers that means sowing the seeds that will grow up into this summer’s harvest. We’re going to take a look at spring planting all through this week. What kind of impact has the wet winter weather had on spring planting - and what about soaring fuel and fertiliser costs?
Presenter = Caz Graham
Producer = Rebecca Rooney

Devon-based photographer Chris Chapman has been photographing Dartmoor and the people who live there for more than 50 years. He's turned his camera many times on farmers and agricultural workers to depict daily life in the countryside.
Chris tells reporter Fiona Clampin about documenting the changing face of agriculture over the course of half a century, including in 2001 a series of harrowing images taken on one Devon farm at the height of the foot and mouth crisis. The resulting book, Silence at Ramscliffe, is a testament to the power of photography to capture history in the making.
Produced and presented by Fiona Clampin.

Warnings that animal welfare is at risk on some Scottish Islands because of widespread disruption to ferry services.
Ripples from conflict in the Middle East are felt in UK ports; the fishing industry is asking the Government for help with fuel costs.
Every spring in a quiet corner of England on the Herefordshire Gloucestershire border carpets of wild daffodils can still be seen in the fields and woodlands, thanks to carefully managed farming and forestry practices.
And as it's lambing time, so we’re learning the ropes with a student vet.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Farmer Roger Corrigan is a born storyteller. Now in his 80s, he has spent all his life farming in Fermanagh and is full of tales about the changes he's seen and the characters, history and folklore of the area.
Roger keeps cattle and sheep on his 460 acre farm in west Fermanagh and is a keen supporter of environmentally friendly farming. So, when he was invited to take part in a project which paired artists and farmers together to highlight farming and environmental issues, he was happy to work with one of his neighbours, potter Anna McGurn.
Anna McGurn is a self taught potter who is passionate about working with local clay, so much so that she calls herself, 'Muddy Fingers McGurn'. "It's wonderful stuff, pliable and easy to work with and I love the fact that I'm shaping pieces about this land, from the very land itself," she says.
Roger is not so keen on the clay. He says the plentiful, dark seams which run through County Fermangh's lakeland are the bane of every farmers life; thick and almost impossible to do anything with, particularly in wet weather.
Anna and Roger's work is nearing completion and will be displayed in an exhibition alongside other farming/art collaborations later this year.
Five farms in Fermanagh in Northern Ireland and County Leitrim in the Irish Republic are taking part in the scheme which is funded by the Creative Ireland Shared Island Programme and sponsored by the Ulster Wildlife Trust and the Leitrim Sustainable Agriculture Council.
Produced and presented by Kathleen Carragher.

There’s concern that animal welfare may be at risk on some Scottish islands because of widespread disruption to ferry services. Eight ferries serving islands on the west coast of Scotland were out of service earlier this week. Calmac, Caledonian MacBrayne, the government owned company that runs them, describes the situation as critical with almost every island affected. NFU Scotland says there’s a risk vital supplies like feed and fertiliser won’t arrive on crofts and farms when they are needed most. We take a closer look at how all this is affecting businesses on the Isle of Barra, speaking to a haulier and the managing director of a shellfish company.
There are 60 native breeds of sheep in the UK and DEFRA says 40 of those breeds are officially at risk, with fewer than 6000 breeding ewes according to their newly published ‘UK native breeds support’ list. Farmers who keep rare breed sheep often sell their meat for a premium at farmers markets or in box schemes, but the decline in the number of small abattoirs able to process small batches of carcasses means the numbers just don’t add up for some of those farmers now.
Presenter = Caz Graham
Producer = Rebecca Rooney