Country Focus

Forget trees, perhaps the answer lies in the soil? Could fields be farmed to store more carbon? We speak to Dr Non Williams of the Welsh Soil project.

Campaigners fear the closure of visitor centres at three beauty spots. Natural Resources Wales say Ynyslas visitor centre near Borth, Bwlch Nant yr Arian, near Ponterwyd, and Coed y Brenin, near Dolgellau are under review due to financial pressures.

Birds of Conservation concern - we continue our monthly look at birds at risk in the company of Wales' ornithologists - this month we have a trio of waders at RSPB Point of Ayr reserve.

The poetry trail in Pembrokeshire - why boxes are popping up on our coastal path inviting passers-by to stop and create a poem inspired by the natural world

It's the Farmer's Union of Wales' Farmhouse breakfast week! Up and down the country, rural communities this week have been joining together around the farmhouse kitchen table, for what can perhaps be described as the most important meal of the day - Breakfast! Caroline Evans visits the village of Capel Gwynfe in Carmarthenshire where the farming and rural community have gathered to eat and chat, all in support of a rural charity - this year the Air Ambulance.

From dairy to mixed farming - we visit Bremenda Isaf Farm in Llanarthne, a Carmarthenshire Council owned holding. where they'll be growing fruit and veg for schools and care homes.

We visit the village of Hermon in Pembrokeshire where they're breathing new life back into empty buildings for community use.

Wales is blessed with an extensive coastline but we ask how ocean literate as a nation are we?

and snowdrops, catkins and frogspawn - we're spotting the first signs of spring!

Before the introduction of steam engines and tractors to work the land Shire horses were once essential for the farm. Today, however, these heavy horses are considered to be a rare and endangered breed. Caroline Evans visits a tourist attraction in Pembrokeshire, where the family have increased the number of breeding shires they keep in order to try and sustain the breed. Indeed, on the day Country Focus visits a new arrival has just been born! The Dyfed Shire Horse Farm in Eglwyswrw boasts royal links, providing horses to the Household Cavalry over the years, with Major Apollo, or Ed as he was known on the farm, this year leading the horses in procession for King Charles III's coronation.

With its white berries and rounded drooping leaves, mistletoe is often used in our Christmas decorations - but where do those traditions come from? Caroline Evans visits the mistletoe auctions in Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire and an orchard in Gwent to hear how this distinctive plant is good for wildlife and how it has become steeped in our folklore and festive traditions.

And the Country Focus team would like to wish all our listeners a joyous and healthy Christmas!

Rebranding Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to National Landscapes to reflect their natural beauty and important role in climate change, conservation and wellbeing.

We head to the rocky shores of Anglesey for our bird of the month. The purple sandpiper is a wader that likes our winters!

Are you away for Christmas? Who's looking after the hens? We hear from the Cosy Hen Co in Monmouthshire providing Hennels, or hotels for poultry!

For many it's the start of the festive season in the agricultural calendar of rural Wales as livestock, producers, exhibitors and vistors all gather at the Royal Welsh showground for this year's.... Winter Fair! Caroline Evans visited the event in Llanelwedd to discover more about the issues facing agriculture and the Welsh food industry.

Ahead of the Royal Welsh Winter Fair we catch up with the Welsh Government's Rural Affairs Minister, Lesley Griffiths, amid challenging times for the agricultural industry.

The restoration of a rare heathland habitat in Hensol Forest, in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Sheep farming in Wales as you've never seen it before - "A Hardy Breed: Sheep Farming in Wales" a photography book by Bruce Cardwell

And a thoroughbred census to establish what happens to the horses when their racing days are over.

At a crossroads - the family farming organically in Pembrokeshire, trying to make sense of the Habitat Wales scheme and uncertainty around future funding.

Plastic plates, cutlery, polystyrene takeaway food containers... just some of the items newly banned from being sold across Wales. Welcome news perhaps for Yr Wyddfa's ambition to be the world's first plastic-free mountain?

We hear graziers concerns about the future of farming on the tops of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

Why there are fears that the habitat Wales scheme could lead to a significant contraction in organic farming.

And for this November's bird of the month we're off to Pembrokeshire to hear about one our fastest declining native resident birds, that nevertheless seem to love our wet, damp, woodlands!