Farming Today

Illegal antibiotics destined for a poultry farm are seized at an airport. We ask why it poses such a risk to farming, and to us. As part of our week focusing on top fruit, Annabel Dry visits East Malling to meet Dr Julien Lecourt who's leading the research to create Britain's perfect plum. We hear about a new report by Cranfield University looking into the impact of the UK moving to 100% organic farming. Presented by Anna Jones and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

Farmers want Sainsbury's to pay them thousands of pounds of cash in lost milk payments as a processor goes into administration. One farmer tells us he had verbal assurance that he'd be looked after by Sainsburys. To help us navigate the content of Boris Johnson's Brexit withdrawal deal, we speak to Chief Executive of the Food and Drink Federation, Ian Wright. Ali Capper from English Apples and Pears lays out the challenge for the top fruit industry. Presented by Anna Jones and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

As weeds become increasingly resistant to the chemicals farmers have used to control them, new techniques are needed according to Dr Nicola Cannon at the Royal Agrcultural University. She's organising a weed event to show farmers what's possible. Farmers in Herefordshire have been testing out an electric weeder as part of a event organised by the Soil Association’s Innovative Farmers project. It kills the weed by sending an electric current through the leaves to the roots. All week we're looking at top fruit. We start with a new variety of pink apple, the first of its kind to be grown commercially in the UK. It's called Flanders Pink and has been planted by growers in Kent.

Charlotte Smith abandons her muddy wellies and heads to The Winterbourne pub in Winterbourne Bassett which was bought in 2018 by a group of community owners who wanted to put the pub back into the heart of the community. Winterbourne Bassett comprises of some 60 houses and has no banks, no post office or any bus service, and Howard Witt from the community group says that when the original pub shut down in 2017 the village became dead. He and the committee raised over £300,000 to buy and renovate the pub. Reg Clarke from the organisation Pub is the Hub talks about how he helped with advice and finding grant funding, and the importance of finding professional licensees, and Reg and Howard explain why the services of an I.T. hub and a children's playground that is available for all to use were the appropriate starting point for this new venture. Emie Hawkshaw, who runs the pub with her husband Roger, tells Charlotte why they decided to take the pub on, how they cope without a bank nearby, and what they hope to do in the future. Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Toby Field

What could Boris Johnson's Brexit deal mean for food, farming, fishing and the environment? An expert - Dr Steven McCabe, associate professor at the Centre for Brexit Studies at Birmingham City University - gives us his analysis. As part of our tour around all the main party conferences we hear from The Brexit Party. It hasn't actually held a conference. It's putting on a series of meetings all round the country. We ask farmer and prospective parliamentary candidate for The Brexit Party in North Devon, Dawn Westcott, about her policies and what she makes of the deal. The Archbishop of Canterbury has been visiting a touring cafe which brings farmers together and makes them fell less isolated. We join him on the Butty Van, a community project in Herefordshire and Shropshire . As part of our week-long look at rural services, we talk about rural public transport. The campaign group the Rural Services Network describes it as 'on its knees' with services virtually non-existent in many deep rural areas. Dr Gary Bosworth from Lincoln University says new technology, like aps to book a bus, could be a solution.