24/06/25 New labs for animal disease, 5G farm network, agricultural students

Work has officially begun to create a new National Biosecurity Centre. It's being built on the existing Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) site, at Weybridge in Surrey. The whole project is costing between two and three billion pounds and is expected to take until 2033 to complete. The APHA was recently criticised by the National Audit Office, which said facilities there were not adequate to prevent or cope with contiguous national animal disease outbreaks such as foot and mouth and avian flu. However, the government says it is putting that right by the upgrade, which will ensure that the threat of animal diseases, which could be passed to humans, are prevented or dealt with efficiently.

Unreliable mobile phone signal is a common complaint on many farms. Connectivity isn't just about messaging or making calls. Using apps and uploading data are an increasingly important part of everyday farming. Could part of the solution be private, portable digital 5G networks? We visit a farm thathas been trialling such a system.

All week we're meeting the next generation of agricultural talent; whether it be farmers, foresters, land managers or agronomists. Thousands of young people will graduate from agricultural courses, across the UK this summer and all week, we'll be finding out what they hope to achieve, and what jobs they are looking forward to. We meet students from Moulton College in Northamptonshire who have just completed their agricultural studies.

Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Rebecca Rooney