Red Tractor has responded to an independent review into the assurance scheme. A report, published earlier this year, recommended more than 50 changes to the Red Tractor scheme, which is supposed to hold farmers to meet high standards on animal welfare, food quality and business governance. We speak to the interim chair about the changes Red Tractor's making as a result.

The Environment Food and Rural Affairs select committee has been hearing more evidence about how border control points are managing biosecurity for food and plants. Industry experts have been telling MPs that the post-Brexit system of checks which came into force last spring are expensive and inefficient and just not up to the job.

This week we're delving into the different methods of egg production. Today we find out how colony eggs are produced. We visit Farmlay Eggs in Aberdeenshire, a family business with an output of seven million eggs a week, the majority of which are free range. However, the farms also have colony - or caged - hens whose eggs mainly go to the catering sector, although some are also sold to retailers. 

Presenter = Anna Hill

Bird flu has been found in a sheep for the first time. DEFRA said the case in Yorkshire was on a farm where avian flu was present in captive birds. One ewe tested positive and has been culled, but her lambs and the rest of the small flock of sheep were negative. Surveillance of mammals for avian flu has been stepped up, partly because in the United States many dairy cattle and even some dairy workers, have gone down with the disease. We speak to the chief vet.

Avian influenza is of course at the forefront of egg producers' minds at the moment, and free range layers in many parts of the country must now be kept indoors. All week we're taking a closer look at egg production. Today we speak to a free-range egg producer in Wales.

A project involving farmers and nature conservationists is celebrating the restoration of 400 "lost" farmland ponds in Essex. A century ago there were more than 17,000 in the county but conservationists say around 10,000 of those have disappeared. We visit a farm which has been part of a big project to restore some of them.

Presenter = Anna Hill

The UK has set a pesticide reduction target of 10% over the next five years. The UK Pesticides National Action Plan from all four UK governments says it will support farmers and growers to reduce the potential harm from pesticides, so rather than farmers using 10% less, the plan wants more sustainable use which reduces the impact on the environment by 10%. While environmental groups have welcomed the plan they describe the target as modest. The government says that UK farmers reduced pesticide use by 60% between 1990 and 2020, at the same time worldwide use in agriculture increased by 90%. We speak to the Nature Friendly Farming Network.

Every year we consume nearly 12 billion eggs in the UK, according to the egg industry, with the vast majority produced in this country. All week we're looking at eggs, from colony cages to free range. We speak to the British Egg Industry Council about demand, different production systems and hen welfare.

Q: Which crop originates from Siberia, grows in the dark and is picked by candlelight?

Presenter = Charlotte Smith

England is to have a new National Forest. The Western Forest will be planted across Bristol, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset. It's the first national forest in 30 years. The government is putting £7.5 million towards it, with the same amount expected from the private sector and charities. The aim is to plant 2,500 hectares of woodland by 2030 and more by 2050. The National Forest chief executive says it won't be created at the expense of farmland.

Biosecurity at our borders is a big issue. As we've previously reported, port health authorities have warned that the post-Brexit checking system isn't working and illegal meat is being smuggled into the country. A member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health's port health expert panel says there isn't enough money and the system is under pressure.

A chemist and tomato grower have pooled their expertise to set up a cannabis farm in the English countryside. It's a high-tech £26 million greenhouse that is licensed by the Home Office to grow medicinal cannabis for the pharmaceutical industry, and its technology means it can harvest cannabis flowers 52 weeks of the year.

Presenter: Charlotte Smith

There’ve been cases of foot and mouth disease in Germany, Hungary and Romania this spring. How would we fare if it crossed the Channel? We’re talking about biosecurity all this week, how to prevent disease, like FMD, from getting into the country and how to stop it spreading if it does. Livestock farmers have to follow strict rules when they move their animals. They also have to record all movements to ensure each individual cow or sheep can be traced in the event of an outbreak of a contagious disease. Cattle passports were introduced in 1998 after the BSE crisis and since 2010 all sheep have to be electronically tagged, a response to the major foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. We visit a south Cumbrian auction to hear about biosecurity measures and to see what farmers make of them. And James Wood, Professor of veterinary epidemiology at Cambridge University, tells us that in order to prevent the spread of disease, biosecurity measures are just part of the story.

A group of cross party MPs has told the Government that farmers are way down the pecking order compared to the big supermarkets and food processors, and often feel powerless to challenge questionable behaviour by them. Yesterday in Parliament Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland and also Chair of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, introduced what’s called a ten minute rule bill; the ‘Food Supply Chain Fairness Bill’ aims to give farmers a more level playing field.

Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Rural communities could find it increasingly difficult to save their local pubs following the decision to shut down a government grant scheme. The Community Ownership Fund, which helped groups to buy local assets such as pubs and parks, was set up as part of the Conservative government's levelling up programme. The Labour government closed the scheme earlier than originally planned.

Poultry keepers across the UK must follow strong biosecurity measures to try to prevent the spread of avian flu. We hear what that means on the ground for farmers, and hear from a vet who says it is having an impact.

And millions of tiny plastic pellets known as nurdles have been found washed up on the east coast of England - leading to concerns about their impact on seabirds and marine life. The Coastguard has said it's likely the nurdles came from the collision involving a tanker and a cargo ship in the North Sea, off East Yorkshire last week.

Presented by Anna Hill

Farmers who've had illegal hare coursers on their land are warning it’s only a matter of time until someone is killed. Hare coursing involves betting on dogs chasing hares, and police say those taking part are often involved in criminal gangs and are using more and more extreme tactics.

Xylella is a bacterial infection in plants spread by spittlebugs. It hasn't yet arrived in the UK but has had a serious impact on olive trees in the Mediterranean. Imported plants are being checked at the border to try to prevent the disease getting here, but preparations are also being made in case it does. We visit a secure lab to speak to some of the scientists involved.

And a new study has found that after 4 years of applying sewage sludge to farm land, the amount of microplastics in the soil had risen by 1,450%. Researchers from the James Hutton Institute and Robert Gordon University looked at soil samples from an experimental field in North Lanarkshire.

Presented by Anna Hill

It's five years since the first covid lockdown - for farmers it was in some senses business as usual, they carried on growing their crops and tending their livestock, but as high streets and restaurants shut, online shopping became the norm and there was a surge in demand for locally produced food. We catch up with a couple in Oxfordshire who struggled to keep up when demand for their veg boxes soared. However the pandemic changed their business for good, and they think made it more resilient and efficient. We also speak to British Growers who helped start "Pick for Britain". The campaign aimed to get people on furlough out in the fields to harvest fruit and veg because overseas seasonal workers had had to go home.

This week we're looking at biosecurity - keeping out disease, at the border and on farm. As concerns over foot and mouth in Europe are on the rise, after a couple of outbreaks, we speak to the Animal and Plant Heath Agency. They work to prevent plant and animal disease getting into the country and to contain and eradicate any cases of disease that are found.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith

The Farming Minister has told Farming Today that it's the success of England's biggest environmental scheme which has led to its closure. As we've reported this week, there has been a furious reaction to the Government's decision to close the SFI to new applicants. The government says it plans to 'reset' the scheme before re-opening it. The Sustainable Farming Incentive paid farmers for environmental work - farming and environmental organisations have criticised its closure, saying it will put financial strain on farming businesses and have a detrimental impact on the environment. Minister Daniel Ziechner says more farmers than in previous years have applied for SFI and so the budget has been spent.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Today we look at the Government's decision to close the Sustainable Farming Incentive to new applicants with immediate effect.

The SFI is a major part of the post-Brexit system of farm payments in England. The devolved governments in the other nations of the UK are developing their own schemes and in the meantime retain direct payments to farmers. In England those basic payments are being phased out and replaced by environmental payments.

Defra says the budget has been 'successfully allocated' and so no new applications will now be accepted. Details on a new SFI will be announced in the summer but applications may not re-open until next year.

Tom Bradshaw, President of the National Farmers Union, says the news is a "shattering blow".

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.