# 12/06/26 Sustainable Farming Incentive, Cereal farming in Cumbria

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/farming-today-385282/12-06-26-sustainable-farming-incentive-cereal-farming-in-cumbria
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/farming-today-385282/12-06-26-sustainable-farming-incentive-cereal-farming-in-cumbria.md
Podcast: [Farming Today](https://stenobird.com/podcast/farming-today-385282)
Published: 2026-06-12T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002xh10
Audio file: http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0nrjwfp.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/farming-today-385282/episodes/12-06-26-sustainable-farming-incentive-cereal-farming-in-cumbria
Duration seconds: 829

## Resource

The Department for Envrionment Food and Rural Affairs has announced how much money it’s making available to farmers in England through the Sustainable Farming Incentive - or SFI - for 2026. It’s something farmers and environmental organisations have been keenly anticipating. There’s a total budget of £240 million pounds., with the first application opening later this month. The SFI is the DEFRA ‘public money for public goods’ scheme that pays for farming in ways that protect and benefit the environment, support food production and improve productivity. Some farming and conservation groups say the budget isn't big enough. And all this week we’re talking about growing cereals, things like grain and oats. The latest figures just out from the industry body the AHDB, that’s the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, show that UK farmers are growing less barley than they have for the last 16 years, while oilseed rape and wheat have climbed back from last year’s lows. The Eden Valley in Cumbria is possibly better known for its livestock than its crops. But over the past couple of years, father and son Thomas and Harry Ewbank have been bucking that trend. Guided by local agronomist, Steven Gate, they've abandoned ploughing in favour of what’s called ‘one-pass drilling’, and they’ve expanded their range of crops to maximise yields and increase sustainability. Presented by Caz Graham and produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Challoner.

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/farming-today-385282/episodes/12-06-26-sustainable-farming-incentive-cereal-farming-in-cumbria/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/farming-today-385282/12-06-26-sustainable-farming-incentive-cereal-farming-in-cumbria.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.