大象传媒

Cleaning and disinfecting dairy milking equipment, whether robotic or manual, uses large amounts of energy and significant quantities of chemicals. It鈥檚 a necessary but expensive process. So farmers are watching with interest the team developing a system that claims to do away with both those things. Scientists at the UK Agri-Tech Centre are collaborating with a company called Oxitech on a method that uses electricity and oxygen instead.

Theft of machinery, fly tipping, cattle rustling, hare coursing; these are all crimes farmers might have to face. Even though budgets are tight, some police forces have been bolstering their rural teams to help combat crime in the countryside. One area which has seen an increase in resources is Warwickshire. Our reporter joins officers there out on patrol.

For the first time gene-edited tomato plants have been developed specifically for a vertical farm operation, where they have to produce a significant amount of fruit, from a very small plant, adapted for growing under artificial light. The miniaturised version of the gardener's favourite, Ailsa Craig, has been developed by Phytoform Labs at Rothamsted Research, but they are still at the development stage so not on supermarket shelves.

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.