Farming Today - 07/11/26 Farming Today This Week: Bovine TB strategy; UK-EU Trade deal; regional mayors; farm reservoirs; bullrushes.
England has formally adopted a new bovine TB policy which aims to eradicate the disease from the country by 2038.
The UK and EU have agreed a draft deal on removing checks from food and agriculture products. A 200 page document outlines details for sanitary and phytosanitary, or SPS regulations. It's part of closer alignment between the UK and the EU and is due to be discussed at a summit later this month. When Brexit came into force six years ago, things like cheese and meat had to have extra checks, and shellfish producers were badly hit. Exports of seed potatoes stopped altogether.
Eight new regional water councils will be created in England to give local communities more say in how water companies invest in their areas. The government says it's all part of the devolution drive, which will also see mayors given powers to hold water companies to account.
In six months, voters in Cumbria will go to the polls to vote for the county's first elected mayor. What will the 'metro mayor' system of devolved power mean for farming and the countryside?
Farmers are increasingly keen to save water on farm in the winter to use in the summer. Building small reservoirs is one option - that's what Riverford Organic Farmers in Devon has done. However, this summer three of its four reservoirs ran dry, so growers have been using data to help them better manage water in the future.
Growing bullrushes for textiles in the Somerset Levels.
Presenter = Caz Graham
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
Published on Saturday, 7th November 2026.
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