23/05/24 General election and rural vote; Daffodils; New planning rules and land values.

Farming Today

The date's been set for a general election. Some would argue all the main political parties have been wooing the farming and rural vote for months now, Rishi Sunak was the first PM in 16 years to appear at the NFU conference this spring, Labour’s promising a rural crime strategy and the Lib Dems say they’d put an extra billion pounds into farming budgets. According to the Rural Service Network 40% of constituencies are rural, and that rural vote will be a key battleground, especially in the light of the recent local elections where the Conservative party had its worst results in years.

The wet weather we’ve experienced this year has been a real challenge for farmers and that's affected flower growers too. As part of our week-long look at the flower-growing industry in the UK, we’ve been finding out how the weather’s affected this year’s daffodil harvest with a visit to a grower in Cornwall.

Changes to planning law came into effect this week making it easier for farmers to convert unused farm buildings into new homes and new businesses like farm shops. It means buildings can be altered to create up to 10 homes, without planning permission. Some are worried that this is going to push up the value of land with farm buildings, and price smaller farmers and new entrants out of the market.

Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney