Search

Home > Farming Today > 11/04/26 Farming Today This Week: Wildfires, bioethanol plant reopening, spring planting, oilseed rape


	Podcast:		Farming Today
	Episode:		11/04/26 Farming Today This Week: Wildfires, bioethanol plant reopening, spring planting, oilseed rape
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:24:45
	Publish Date:		2026-04-11 06:00:00
	Description:		In a week that has seen several wildfires break out across the country, we hear from Dr Matthew Jones, who leads a group researching wildfires across the globe. He explains to Charlotte Smith why the risk of wildfires is so high in the Spring months. We also hear from a farmer still dealing with the aftermath of wildfires last year. The impact of the Iran conflict has led to government concerns about a potential shortage of CO2 - an important ingredient in many food and drink production processes. In response, the government has awarded a £100 million pound grant to the Ensus factory at Redcar to re-start production after it was mothballed last year. The plant produces bioethanol, CO2 and animal feed from wheat and maize. However, the National Farmers’ Union are concerned that “the £100m investment from government is not conditional on Ensus using British wheat”. Caz Graham speaks to Grant Pearson, the chairman of Ensus. As many farmers are continuing or starting to plant Spring crops for harvest later in the year, we hear from the AHDB about how this year's Spring cereal and oilseed drilling is progressing across the country. We also visit a project in Cumbria doing a different type of planting: using a drone to plant a crop of on wet peatland, known as Paludiculture. With fields of bright yellow oilseed rape coming into bloom across the country, one grower tells us why more farmers have been planting the crop this year compared to last. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Jo Peacey. A BBC Audio Bristol production.
	Total Play:		0