The RSPB and Greenpeace say they have evidence of illegal burning of peatlands. Burning peat was banned in protected areas and where the peat is deep last year, as part of government efforts to protect and restore peatlands which sequester carbon. Traditionally some have been routinely burnt to create the right habitat for grouse and also to prevent wildfires. But conservationists say they’ve reported 79 cases of possible illegal peat burning.

Applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive open later this week. It's the first phase of England’s replacement for the EU's Common Agricultural Policy: farmers will be paid for the public goods they provide. This is a massive change and there is help and advice for farmers as they make the transition. In Devon, a business advice service - the Business Information Point - has been running a series of free workshops to get farmers up to speed. One of them is about soil, and how to improve it.

What impact will climate change have on farming in the future? Met Office scientists have been studying the impacts on everything from producing livestock, to growing crops, disease and drought.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith

Producer = Rebecca Rooney

All this week we've been looking at the business of growing flowers and plants, and we're at the Chelsea Flower Show to hear about what sort of state our horticulture industry is in. The industry of cut flowers and pot plants is big business - according to Government statistics, the UK grew £1.4 billion worth in 2020.

We speak to the businesses carving out a niche market for their plants, a fantastic display of clematis and with the news that this week the government will allow commercial growing of gene-edited crops in England, we ask what the possibilities are for plant growers.

And we hear from the team who won best in show at this year's Chelsea Flower Show for their rewilded garden.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced for BBC Audio by Caitlin Hobbs

Sir Robert Goodwill is the new chairman of the EFRA select committee which keeps an eye on DEFRA. He's a Yorkshire farmer and former farming minister.

The UK market for cut flowers and ornamental plants was £1.4 billion in 2020, according to government statistics and around 90% of these flowers are imported. Producer Jane Scotter grows fruit and veg in Herefordshire but she's found that cut flowers make more money. She grows them bio-dynamically - without using pesticides or herbicides. Her 12 acre plot supplies a London restaurant with veg, fruit and flowers and she sells blooms to florists.

Sugar beet growers are being offered a cash advance. To help farmers cope with rising costs, British Sugar is offering them 25% of their money by the end of June, rather than waiting until they deliver the beet in the autumn. The amount will be based on a five year average of their payments. The National Farmers Union’s sugar board says it hopes it will persuade growers to stick with the crop:

Conservationists are counting puffins on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast. They’re one of the most important sites for puffins in the UK and one of the most popular places for people to see them. It’s the first proper count since Covid and rangers say it’ll be critical in assessing just how the birds are faring.

The price farmers are being paid for milk is rising faster than ever before and is likely to hit rates never seen before over the next couple of months. But dairy farmers won’t be rushing off to book their next holiday or buy a new tractor, in fact some of them will be barely breaking even in spite of these record high prices.

We hear who MPs have elected as the new Chair of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee; and this week we're hearing all about growing flowers and in Scotland, a new group say there’s a growing market for home-grown flowers.

Presented by Caz Graham and produced for BBC Audio by Caitlin Hobbs

“A small country, without the ability to flood any market…” That’s how Andrew Morrison - Chairman of New Zealand Beef and Lamb - described his country, in an attempt to allay the fears of farmers here. The new Trade Deal with New Zealand will allow over 2 hundred thousand tonnes of sheepmeat and beef into the UK tariff-free….in 15 years’ time. British producers have been critical, saying they will be undercut by meat produced to lower animal welfare and environmental standards.

A new report from the County Councils Network suggests the impact of Government changes to adult social care, will hit local authorities in rural areas, harder than urban ones. The reforms include a cap on the cost of care and an entitlement to pay cheaper rates for care homes.

We visit a Welsh sunflower farm, taking advantage of one of the biggest floral trends in recent years. Combining "pick your own" with a "photo field” means growers can sell access to the fields for a selfie as well as the flowers themselves.

And we hear a tribute to Caroline Drummond, the Chief Executive of LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) who has died after a short illness.

Presented by Anna Hill

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

The Government is presenting its Genetic Technology Bill to Parliament this week, which will allow the commercial growing of gene-edited crops in England. Speeding up approval for research into gene-editing has already been happening. Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have developed a Gene Edited (or GE) tomato which can produce pro-vitamin D3 in the fruit and the leaves - and when grown outdoors this could be converted into actual Vitamin D in the plant.

The diet of many dairy cows is supplemented with palm acid oil (a by-product of palm oil production). Scientists at the University of Nottingham have been working to find home-grown oil alternatives, in an effort to cut the carbon footprint of dairy production.

And Norfolk Lavender near Hunstanton has been operating for nearly a century. The lavender is distilled and sold on site as an essential oil, but a growing part of the business is as a tourist destination!

Presented by Anna Hill

Produced for BBC Audio Wales & West of England by Heather Simons

Ukrainian farmers are demanding that borders re-open so they can get their crops out of the country. It’s estimated that 24 million tonnes of wheat and maize are stuck there as Russia continues to blockade Black Sea ports. Instead, farmers are heading to the land borders – and can face a week-long wait to get through. With harvest now looming they say this can’t go on. Last week the UN highlighted the impact the war is having on global food supplies, warning that some countries could face long-term famines if Ukraine's exports are not restored to pre-war levels. Charlotte Smith catches up with one farmer who says the situation can't go on.

As many people face a struggle to put food on their plates as the cost of living rises, community supported agriculture is being heralded as a way to bring farmers and consumers together, to share both the risks and the rewards of growing food. Although fairly well-established across Britain, the movement is in the early stages in Northern Ireland. We visit an open day designed encourage others to find out more about this model of farming.

The British horticulture market is worth £2.2 billion a year according to the Flowers and Plants Association, and UK grown flowers are growing in popularity. This week Farming Today will be hearing from the people who help make gardens beautiful. One of the big challenges is competing with Dutch growers, who have dominated this market for decades.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Sally Challoner.

There is a shortage of vets in the UK - a situation exacerbated by COVID, Brexit, and the increased workload caused by new paperwork and a surge in pet ownership. The UK's veterinary workforce is currently heavily reliant on vets from the EU - but data from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons show the annual number of registrants from the EU coming to work in the UK fell by 68% from over a thousand in 2019... to just 364 in 2021.

Fishing boats have led a protest off England’s NE coast saying not enough is being done to help them – it’s the latest in the long running dispute over thousands of unexplained shellfish deaths in the area. As we reported - after crabs and lobsters began washing up along the Yorkshire coast last Autumn, Defra and the Environment Agency investigated and blamed an algal bloom. Fishermen disagree saying that the dumping of contaminated sediment is a more likely cause.

And it’s very rare that a foreign species is introduced into the UK to fight off another which has taken hold. But after a decade of research, the Government’s decided it’s safe to release South American Weevils to chomp through the serious invasion of the floating pennywort plant, which is clogging up some of Britain’s waterways.

Presented by Charlotte Smith

Produced for BBC Audio Wales and West of England by Heather Simons

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this programme, there are details of organisations that offer advice and support at BBC Action Line:

Emotional Distress / Suicide

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/emotional-distress-information-and-support

Mental Health in the Farming Community

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/489tVhcXfvd98RmcH5CBmdj/information-and-support-mental-health-in-the-farming-community

Mental Health

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health-self-harm

There's a new row over figures on badger culling. DEFRA has admitted that it got its sums wrong when calculating the impact of culling on the number of cattle with TB  - but it insists what it's calling a ‘minor discrepancy’ doesn’t change its conclusion that the policy is effective. 

That’s disputed by ecologist Tom Langton who - along with other campaigners against the culls - analysed publicly available data on them for a peer reviewed study which was published earlier this year in the journal Vet Record.  His conclusions were roundly criticised by DEFRA’s chief vet and chief scientific advisor, who have now sent that correction which the Vet Record will also publish. Tom Langton says he thinks the corrected figures demonstrate that the culls aren’t working. But DEFRA told us the paper was produced to fit a clear campaign, and that they had discovered and corrected a minor discrepancy in their calculations. They added this does not change their position that data was manipulated in a way that makes it impossible to see the actual effects of badger culling on reducing TB rates.

Shellfish producers have taken to the sea to protest about what they say is Government inaction over the seemingly unexplained death of thousands of crabs and lobsters. They claim dredging is uncovering harmful chemicals, and it's destroying their livelihood. But Defra says it's down to an unusual algal bloom.

We’ve been talking about vets this week – and as we’ve heard they’re four times more likely to die by suicide than the rest of the population. Many have a stressful workload, and as practices work independently, they can feel isolated. That's part of the reason Allan Wright was appointed as the country’s first chaplain to the veterinary community.

And if you’ve been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this programme, there are details of organisations that offer advice and support at BBC Action Line

Farmers and food businesses in Northern Ireland say anything other than a negotiated deal on changing the Protocol would be ‘sub optimal’. With the UK Government planning to unilaterally change the agreement it made with the EU, this has raised fears of a trade war.

This week we're looking at worker shortages in the vet industry and we hear what's being done to increase diversity within the sector, after a study from 2015 found only 3% of the UK veterinary profession is non-white - compared to a UK population that is 14% non-white.

And we hear the answer to 'which bird is it?' from yesterday's programme.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced for BBC Audio by Caitlin Hobbs