Farming Today
Encyclopedia
Transmission
It is broadcast each week day (but pre-recorded the day before) between 5.45 and 6.00 a.m. and a longer programme is broadcast on Saturdays (Farming Today This Week) from 06.35 – 7.00 a.m. Around one million people listen to the programme. Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and other Prime Ministers have been regular listeners.
History
It began as a 15 minute programme in September 1960 broadcast at 7.15am on Network Three (from Holme Moss, Pontop Pike, Douglas and Sandale only) in the north of England, which was the educational broadcasting network of the BBC Third ProgrammeBBC Third Programme
The BBC Third Programme was a national radio network broadcast by the BBC. The network first went on air on 29 September 1946 and became one of the leading cultural and intellectual forces in Britain, playing a crucial role in disseminating the arts...
. In mid-1961 it moved to 07.00. Also from 1962 on the Home Service
BBC Home Service
The BBC Home Service was a British national radio station which broadcast from 1939 until 1967.-Development:Between the 1920s and the outbreak of The Second World War, the BBC had developed two nationwide radio services, the BBC National Programme and the BBC Regional Programme...
(later to become Radio 4) was the ten-minute Farm Bulletin at 06.40. By 1964, Network 3 had become the Third Network and the programme had moved to 07.45.
In late August 1964 it moved to its present position on the BBC Home Service, replacing the ten-minute Farm Bulletin, starting at 06.35. On a Saturday it was still 15 minutes, at the same time, but there was the half-hour On Your Farm from 07.15 (now from 06.35-06.57 on Sundays). In October 1967, the Home Service became Radio 4. From the early 1970s, it was also carried at the same time by Radio Wales
BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Wales is the BBC's national radio station broadcasting to Wales in the English language. Operated by BBC Wales, it began broadcasting on 12 November 1978 following the demise of the old "Radio 4 Wales" when BBC Radio 4 became a national network and moved from medium wave to long wave...
.
In 1974 it moved to 06.22, then to 06.10 in 1978, directly before the Shipping Forecast at 06.25, later followed by Prayer for the Day
Prayer for the Day
Prayer for the Day is a religious radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom. It comprises a 2 minute reading or prayer and reflection to start the day.-Transmission:...
in the 1980s.
In early April 1998, when the Radio 4 schedule was largely spruced up, the programme moved its current time of 05.45, directly preceded by Prayer for the Day.
Content
It explores issues of current concern to farmerFarmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s, fishermen and others with an interest in countryside issues. Unlike some BBC environmental programmes, it keeps climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
discussion to a minimum. It does include many topics about the relationship between ecology (sustainable production methods
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment...
or organic farming
Organic farming
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
) and farmers, but will look at topics from a farmer's point of view.
Farmers, environmentalists, politicians, the Soil Association
Soil Association
The Soil Association is a charity based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1946, it has over 27,000 members today. Its activities include campaign work on issues including opposition to intensive farming, support for local purchasing and public education on nutrition; as well the certification of...
and National Farmers Union leaders are amongst those regularly interviewed for the programme.
Range of topics
Recent topics have included- Foot-and-mouth diseaseFoot-and-mouth diseaseFoot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids...
- Bluetongue diseaseBluetongue diseaseBluetongue disease or catarrhal fever is a non-contagious, non-zoonotic, insect-borne, viral disease of ruminants, mainly sheep and less frequently cattle, goats, buffalo, deer, dromedaries and antelope...
(cattle) - BadgerBadgerBadgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
culling (for bovine TBMycobacterium bovisMycobacterium bovis is a slow-growing , aerobic bacterium and the causative agent of tuberculosis in cattle...
prevention) - GM foodGenetically modified foodGenetically modified foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms . Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques...
and crops (biotechnology) - PesticidesPesticides in the European Union-REACH:REACH is a European Community regulation to improve the protection of human health and the environment. It also calls for the substitution of the more dangerous chemicals with safer alternatives...
and organic farming - Common Agricultural PolicyCommon Agricultural PolicyThe Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....
- Common Fisheries PolicyCommon Fisheries PolicyThe Common Fisheries Policy is the fisheries policy of the European Union . It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch what amounts of each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry by various market interventions...
Similar to the Archers
The Archers
The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...
, Countryfile and On Your Farm, it is produced at BBC Birmingham
BBC Birmingham
BBC Birmingham is one of the oldest regional arms of the BBC, located in Birmingham, West Midlands. It was the first region outside of London to start broadcasting both the corporation's radio and television transmissions, the latter from the Sutton Coldfield television transmitter...
.