The National Audit Office, the public spending watchdog, has published a report looking at efficiency and effectiveness in England's environmental regulation. It found that complexity, outdated IT systems, skills shortages, and a risk averse culture were affecting how well DEFRA and the regulators Natural England and the Environment Agency are working. The NAO says that substantial reform is needed, but that it's optimistic there is the impetus and political will for change.

The Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland outlines progress on the Sustainable Farming Programme, and on efforts to cut pollution in Lough Neagh. The lough supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's drinking water and is facing what the Minister calls a 'biodiversity and ecological crisis'.

Continuing our exploration of the UK cheese industry, we visit a Somerset cheesemaker whose products are found on the shelves of several major supermarkets.

Presenter: Caz Graham

A new approach to working with England's upland communities has been announced by the Government, starting with Dartmoor and then Cumbria.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

The Welsh government has implemented its Sustainable Farming Scheme or SFS. There are three levels for farmers to join: first, Universal Actions which all farmers have to comply with to get funding; then optional enhanced actions; and finally collaborative projects. Wales' Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs Huw Irranca-Davies says the collaborative approach the government used to create the SFS is needed to tackle river pollution.

All week we’re talking about cheese. In 2024 UK cheese exports were worth £887 million, around three quarters of that was destined for Europe. Last year DEFRA announced sanitary and phytosanitary agreement between the UK and EU, aimed at reducing paperwork for agri-food exports by aligning standards. One dairy exporter, Coombe Castle International, says there’s growing demand in Asia, the US and Australia too.

Farmers are heading to the NEC in Birmingham for the big machinery show: LAMMA. It's a showcase for all that's high-tech in agriculture. We ask one of the organisers what's new, and whether farmers are feeling confident enough to buy.

Presenter = Anna Hill

Wildlife and environment groups say this government could become the first to break the law by missing targets to restore nature. The Office for Environmental Protection, the OEP, has published its annual report on the government's progress and it shows that it is not on track to meet 21 of the 43 legally set out in its Environmental Improvement Plan. We speak to Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, which represents 94 countryside and wildlife groups across Britain and ask why progress has been so slow.

Agriculture is devolved so each of the four home nations has different plans for their post-Brexit support schemes for farmers. Today we ask Jim Fairlie, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity in the Scottish Government, how Scotland's scheme is going to work.

All this week, we’re focusing on cheese, and today we’re talking about goat's cheese. We meet a husband and wife team who graze around 250 goats in Carmarthenshire. They graze their animals outside most of the year and have a milking parlour like the ones you'd find on a dairy farm. They make mostly soft cheese but are now making hard cheese too to help use up excess milk in the summer, when demand for cheese is lower.

Presenter = Anna Hill

Thousands of people have descended on Oxford this week for two farming conferences. We report from The Oxford Farming Conference, where the Defra Secretary of State made new announcements for England's environmental farm payments, while protesting farmers in tractors hooted horns outside the hall.

The Defra Secretary of State spoke at the Oxford Farming Conference with new announcements for England's environmental farm payments, while protesting farmers in tractors hooted horns outside the hall.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

At the opening of the Oxford Farming Conference 2026, Charlotte Smith previews the government's latest announcement on England's largest environmental payment scheme.

Produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Uncertainty about whether a farm will break even, let alone make a profit, is concerning arable farmers, according to Dame Minette Batter's recent report on farm profitability. Lower prices for arable products, rising costs of energy and farm machinery, and the suspension of environmental payments under the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme are making some arable farmers ask if they should keep growing crops at all, according to her report. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board has just produced its latest figures for what farmers are planning to plant this year. We ask what growers are deciding to do.

The rapid expansion of large solar farms in many parts of the country has caused consternation among many people in the countryside. Campaigners say that although they support green energy, they're concerned at the scale of the developments. The Council for the Protection of Rural England in Norfolk is forming an alliance of local councils and protest groups to support people opposing the projects.

All week we're looking at how farmers can make themselves and their businesses more resilient. A new movement in Scotland is helping farmers prioritise their physical and mental health.

Presenter = Anna Hill

The Welsh Government's Sustainable Farming Scheme has come into force. It replaces the Basic Payment Scheme which has been phased out since the UK left the EU. What will it mean for Welsh farmers? We speak to a farmer near Brecon to find out.

Environmental groups in Scotland are leaving the advisory boards on the country's new agriculture schemes in protest at what they say is a failure to address climate change and nature depletion. RSPB Scotland, Scottish Environment Link and other groups say they no longer have confidence in what they say was supposed to be to co-design of the post-Brexit schemes but in fact has ignored their views and failed to deliver meaningful reform. The Scottish Government says it is creating new policies that will deliver for both nature and the climate.

Thousands of farmers, environmentalists and policy makers converge on Oxford this week for the annual Oxford Farming Conference and Oxford Real Farming Conference. This year, the Oxford Farming Conference theme is growing resilience, concentrating on how farmers can create the conditions on their land, and in their businesses, to weather future challenges. Climate change is just one of those. We visit a farmer in Herefordshire whose land has been repeatedly flooded. He's working with other farmers to make their businesses more resilient on a landscape scale.

Presenter = Anna Hill

Growing resilience and transforming our food and farming system, the two themes of the two farming conferences happening in Oxford this week. We will be at both - so what can we all expect?

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.