大象传媒

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鈥檚 promising a rural crime strategy and the Lib Dems say they鈥檇 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鈥檝e 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鈥檝e been finding out how the weather鈥檚 affected this year鈥檚 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