19/10/26 Defra secretary on organic farming and sustainable farming incentive; cider apples

Over the next nine years the government would like to see the amount of land farmed organically in England treble, from 3.4% now to 10% by 2036. It's part of the new Organic Action Plan for England which the government says will 'open up opportunities across the sector'. Demand for organic food is growing, the UK market is worth £3.9 billion a year and ministers aim to reduce the amount of imported organic food. While the ambition in the strategy has been welcomed, it's been already been criticised for a lack of funding. The Sustainable Farming Incentive, England's biggest farm environmental scheme which pays farmers for things like planting hedges and also supports those moving into organic production, opened and closed in a single day last month as it had run out of money. We speak to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Angela Eagle.

All week on Farming Today you'll find us in the apple and pear orchards of the UK. Harvest is in full swing after an early start but it hasn't been an easy year for growers. Apples, like so many other crops, have struggled with the very wet and then very dry conditions thrown at them in the last growing season. We visit a cider orchard in Somerset, where the quality is good, but the yield is down.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney