09/05/24 - Regen ag, Iberico pork, OEP water report and tractor factory strike

Farming Today

The boss of Waitrose has told Farming Today that the value of food needs reappraising and that in some cases higher prices should be considered. It comes as the supermarket announces that from 2035, it’s UK produced meat, milk, eggs and fruit and veg will come from farms that practice regenerative farming. There is no precise definition for regenerative agriculture, but it focuses on improving soil health by reducing or removing cultivation, growing cover crops to protect the soil and using fewer chemical inputs. It can also involve re-integrating livestock into an arable system. So what will it mean for the 2300 farmers who supply Waitrose?

The Government needs to take “urgent action” to meet it’s own targets for cleaning up our waterways…according to a new report from the Office for Environmental Protection. The Government has committed to bring 77% of England’s surface water bodies, like rivers and lakes, to a good ecological condition by 2027…but the OEP says without a significant strengthening in the enforcement of environmental law, that figure will be more like 21%.

More than 500 workers at a tractor factory in Basildon in Essex are to go on strike across the next three weeks over pay. The CNH factory produces New Holland tractors that are shipped all around the world.

And our European road trip continues with a hunt for the farmer who produces the world's most expensive ham.

Presented by Caz Graham Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons