The Farming Programme

We’re celebrating the National Ploughing Championships....with the current National Champion and holder of the Golden Plough!

Sean chats with the egg producer heading to Africa to help poverty-hit farmers in the country.

Sean looks at the fight to stop oil seed rape crops from being destroyed...costing farmers a fortune. Plus, he helps launch Young Farmers Week

Sean meets the winner of the Golden Fork at this year’s Great Taste Awards....a small-scale pig farmer who, 20 years ago, helped launch the now popular farmers markets.

Sean discusses plans for agriculture to be carbon-neutral within 20 years. Plus... sheep shearing. Is it cruel or a vital part of keeping a sheep healthy?

As harvest ends it’s feared the hare coursers will return. We hear what more is being done to tackle those behind the illegal sport.

It’s a Back to School Special as we find out about FaceTime A Farmer and hear of the educational work of Ladies in Pigs, from the group’s chair Debbie Wilson.

Last week on the Programme Sean discussed why cauliflowers and broccoli are in short supply at the moment. This week, there are fears, in some quarters, for your Christmas sprouts...and this time, it’s nothing to do with the weather!

We could be facing a shortage of cauliflowers and broccoli over the next few weeks, because of the floods - and then the mini heatwave - of earlier in the summer. Sean will hear from one farmer who's lost a million pounds worth of the popular veg this year.

You might have seen the images of farms hit by flash floods in Yorkshire last week. We’ll hear from some of those worst affected...and discover how farmers from our part of the world are digging in to help them recover.