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00:00:02Now on BBC News, the latest
00:00:04business news from across the globe.
00:00:06globe. Business Today. MUSIC
00:00:16MUSIC Oil Oil under pressure energy chiefs chiefs pull out of a major gathering
00:00:20gathering in Riyadh as Iran backed backed Houthi strike the airport
00:00:23airport again. Tough choices finance
00:00:26finance ministers meet in Bangkok Bangkok as the
00:00:32In Bangkok as the head of the IMF warns countries to rein in spending spending as debt levels and borrowing
00:00:36borrowing costs surge. Made in Europe Europe the boss of VW backs the EU's EU's proposed plans as competition
00:00:40competition from China hots up ahead
00:00:42ahead of the Paris motor show and
00:00:44and ploughing ahead. We find out
00:00:46out what it takes to cut the perfect
00:00:48perfect line as farmers face a challenging challenging harvest amid a barrage
00:00:51barrage of soaring costs and extreme
00:00:55extreme weather. Welcome you're with with Business Today in London with
00:00:58with me Sally Bundock. So we start start with oil prices as markets
00:01:02markets react to a weekend of major major international upheaval feeding
00:01:06feeding into energy prices. So if if we take you back to Friday, that
00:01:09that was when President Trump announced
00:01:11announced a deal with Moscow to import
00:01:14import Russian diesel following a a phone call with President Putin,
00:01:17Putin, a move that comes as Mr Trump Trump looks to bring down soaring
00:01:21soaring fuel prices ahead of upcoming
00:01:23upcoming mid-term elections. Ukraine's Ukraine's President Zelensky condemned
00:01:26condemned the deal as a gift for
00:01:29for President Putin. Then on Saturday, Saturday, President Trump took to
00:01:32to social media announcing that Russia Russia and Ukraine had agreed to
00:01:35to an immediate energy ceasefire
00:01:38ceasefire without providing details
00:01:40details of the terms, something that
00:01:43that the Ukrainians took by surprise. surprise. Apparently who, while backing
00:01:46backing the idea if the Kremlin supports supports it, have since accused Russia
00:01:50Russia of hitting energy infrastructure
00:01:53infrastructure in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, in the Middle East, the
00:01:56the world's biggest oil exporter, exporter, Saudi Arabia, has been
00:01:59been under increasing attacks from from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen,
00:02:03Yemen, the kingdom's main international international airport in the capital
00:02:06capital Riyadh, was struck again again on Sunday for the third time
00:02:10time in four days, the Saudi authorities
00:02:12authorities said one person had been been killed in the latest attacks.
00:02:16attacks. 13 people were killed on
00:02:19on Saturday in another part of the the capital, the Saudi energy Ministry
00:02:22Ministry confirmed the opening of of a major international gathering
00:02:25gathering of energy ministers and and industry leaders went ahead on
00:02:29on Sunday. It's being reported, though,
00:02:32though, that a number of energy bosses
00:02:34bosses have pulled out. BP have confirmed
00:02:36confirmed its chief executive will will not be attending international
00:02:40international benchmark Brent crude
00:02:41crude oil futures are currently trading
00:02:45trading at $103 a barrel on global global markets. Well, let's talk
00:02:48talk to Cornelia Meyer economist economist and chief executive of
00:02:52of Meyer Resources. She was meant meant to be at the conference in
00:02:55in Riyadh, but all the flights were were cancelled. Cornelia so you're
00:02:59you're in your home in Switzerland. Switzerland. Talk us through what
00:03:02what happened to you? Well, I was
00:03:05was as I was boarding the plane from
00:03:09from Zurich. My onward flight to
00:03:11to Riyadh was cancelled. I rebooked
00:03:13rebooked six times on four different
00:03:16different airlines, but no toy. Yeah. Yeah. No joy. And you were stuck
00:03:20stuck in Switzerland, as it were.
00:03:22were. But they have gone ahead still
00:03:25still with this world. Petroleum Petroleum Congress just talk us through
00:03:28through the impact this is all having having on Saudi Arabia. Well, they
00:03:32they have gone ahead with the World World Petroleum Congress, which will
00:03:36will start today. Actually yesterday
00:03:39yesterday the International Energy Energy Forum had its ministerial,
00:03:42ministerial, which only happens every
00:03:44every 2 to 3 years. So this was this
00:03:47this is for the energy industry and
00:03:50and for the energy world. This these
00:03:52these are very, very important meetings
00:03:55meetings with a great cast of characters.
00:03:59characters. It's for Saudi. It is
00:04:03is unfortunate because you know, know, the kingdom has been always
00:04:06always a beacon of stability in a
00:04:09a sea of unrest in the Middle East.
00:04:12East. And with the Iran war and now
00:04:15now with the Houthis sort of turning
00:04:17turning on, on, on the kingdom, it
00:04:21it this has an impact, as we can
00:04:23can see, people can't get there.
00:04:25there. But do not underestimate the
00:04:28the resolve and willingness of the the Saudi government and the Saudi
00:04:32Saudi people to carry on. And, you
00:04:35you know, get things done. They are are carrying on. They are trying
00:04:39trying to get things done. But clearly
00:04:41clearly the Houthis are proving to
00:04:43to be a very difficult to counter.
00:04:46counter. I mean, the Yemeni government
00:04:48government last week said we're declaring declaring all out war with the backing
00:04:51backing of Saudi Arabia. And yet
00:04:53yet the Houthis seem to be on the
00:04:55the advance. Well, yes. And you know,
00:04:58know, this is a war between the Saudi
00:05:01Saudi the internationally recognised recognised government of Yemen, which
00:05:05which is supported by Saudi Arabia
00:05:08Arabia and the Houthis. And this
00:05:10this war has been going on for a
00:05:13a good ten years now since 2015.
00:05:172015. So so it has been quiet. But
00:05:20But they did close the bubble Mandeb Mandeb you know, on the other side
00:05:24side of the peninsula from the Strait
00:05:27Strait of Hormuz, which was very
00:05:29very unfortunate again, because the
00:05:32the the the crude that went to the
00:05:34the from the east to west pipeline pipeline usually would go through
00:05:38through there and that it then had
00:05:40had to go through Suez Canal and
00:05:43and through the summit pipeline, pipeline, which is less crude and
00:05:47and very complicated tanker to tanker
00:05:50tanker reshuffling. So yes, the Houthis
00:05:52Houthis have wreaked a little bit bit of havoc here. And whilst that's
00:05:56that's all going on, we've got the
00:05:58the news of this deal between President
00:06:00President Trump and President Putin
00:06:03Putin on diesel supply coming from
00:06:05from Russia and the situation in in Ukraine is also intensifying.
00:06:08intensifying. Give us your take on on how all of these events will impact
00:06:12impact energy prices in the coming
00:06:13coming days. Well, look, it's the
00:06:19the deal between Donald Trump and
00:06:22and Putin in many ways a sort of of is a relief is respite because
00:06:26because there will be more diesel diesel coming in. We had. It's not
00:06:29not a relief to Ukraine Cornelia
00:06:31Cornelia at all or European leaders. leaders. Energy market. It's a relief
00:06:35relief to energy markets that there
00:06:37there is more diesel around. It's
00:06:40It's certainly not a relief to Ukraine.
00:06:43Ukraine. So in that sense, yes. But But you know, we have a very tense
00:06:47tense situation. Crude markets are
00:06:49are more relaxed than product markets markets because we are lacking the
00:06:52the efficient refineries on the other other side of Hormuz. And a lot of
00:06:56of the efficient refineries in Asia Asia don't get enough crude, but
00:07:00but we have to see when you look look at crude prices, at futures,
00:07:04futures, at Brent futures, you have
00:07:06have a price, but it does not calculate
00:07:10calculate the cost of shipping which
00:07:12which has skyrocketed. You would
00:07:14would probably need to add something
00:07:18something like around $40 to every
00:07:20every barrel for the price of shipping
00:07:23shipping of insurance and so on. on. OK, Cornelia, as ever, it's great
00:07:27great to get your take on what is is happening. I thank you for joining
00:07:30joining us this morning. Cornelia Cornelia Meyer there with the latest
00:07:33latest on what's happening with energy energy and the Middle East and of
00:07:36of course, Russia and Ukraine. But
00:07:37But now let's head to Thailand, where
00:07:41where global finance chiefs are gathering gathering for the International Monetary
00:07:44Monetary Fund and World Bank annual annual meetings. The inflationary
00:07:48inflationary impact from the events events in the Middle East are likely
00:07:50likely to dominate the agenda as as soaring energy prices pile pressure
00:07:54pressure on economies around the the world. That and soaring global
00:07:57global debt levels are pushing up up borrowing costs through the bond
00:08:01bond markets, hitting governments governments and businesses alike.
00:08:04alike. Well, let's talk to Colin Colin Ellis, who's head of economic
00:08:08economic research at the ratings ratings firm Moody's. Colin, thank
00:08:12thank you for joining us. So ahead
00:08:15ahead of this gathering in Bangkok, Bangkok, we heard from the boss of
00:08:18of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva,
00:08:22Georgieva, and she is talking about
00:08:23about the toxic mix of high inflation,
00:08:27inflation, high energy prices and
00:08:29and the AI investment boom. Yes,
00:08:32Yes, Sally. Well, first, thank you you for having me. And I think what
00:08:35what the IMF is trying to say here here is, is recognising that the
00:08:39the forces pulling on the global global economy right now are really
00:08:43really very strong and they're pulling pulling in very different directions.
00:08:47directions. AI is a big accelerant. accelerant. We can see the impact
00:08:50impact in terms of investment spending spending in the US in terms of companies
00:08:53companies using AI wherever they they can, and we can see it in equity
00:08:57equity prices, which is causing us us consumers in particular to keep
00:09:00keep spending. But on the flip side, side, the energy markets, that's
00:09:04that's really the break. And as your your previous guest said, the kind
00:09:07kind of real effects that we're seeing seeing there in terms of higher oil
00:09:10oil and higher gas prices feeding feeding through into inflation is
00:09:14is putting pressure on household household budgets, but it's also
00:09:17also putting central banks in a difficult
00:09:19difficult position. So we've got
00:09:22got G7 finance ministers meeting meeting in Bangkok as well, including
00:09:25including our Chancellor John Healey. Healey. She will urge governments,
00:09:29governments, those who are gathered gathered there and beyond, she says,
00:09:33says, to implement protective fiscal
00:09:35fiscal and monetary policy measures.
00:09:37measures. Will governments listen listen to that? Well, I mean, that's
00:09:41that's the trillion dollar question question really, Sally, it's governments
00:09:45governments have been running up up debt in various parts of the world
00:09:47world for a very long time now, and and we've had a whole series of crises
00:09:51crises which explain why debt's risen, risen, because governments have stepped
00:09:54stepped in after the financial crisis crisis or during the euro crisis
00:09:57crisis or after Covid, during Covid. Covid. But we've not really seen
00:10:01seen some of the biggest economies economies really take steps to bring
00:10:03bring back debt down. I mean, this this year, France and the US will
00:10:07will both run budget deficits in
00:10:09in excess of 5% of GDP. And if you
00:10:12you cannot do that when the economy economy is at least growing a bit,
00:10:16bit, how are you going to do that that when things are getting tougher, tougher, like right now? Because
00:10:20Because central banks, if anything, anything, probably are biassed towards
00:10:23towards raising interest rates, which which of course puts more pressure
00:10:26pressure on governments and cutting cutting spending at the same time
00:10:29time as that is very unpopular politically. politically. Have Western governments
00:10:33governments just become too complacent complacent about the amount of debt debt they're holding, especially
00:10:36especially given the fact that for for many, many years we had very
00:10:40very low interest rates in some places places near to zero. And so therefore
00:10:44therefore wasn't really costing them them that much. Whereas now it's
00:10:47it's costing most governments a huge
00:10:49huge amount. It is costing a lot lot more. And we've seen benchmark
00:10:53benchmark interest rates jump quite quite a long way from the near zero
00:10:56zero levels that we saw after the the crisis. But I think you need
00:10:59need to differentiate between the the really kind of biggest economies,
00:11:02economies, the G7 or most of the the G7 and advanced economies as
00:11:05as a whole. There are plenty of advanced advanced economies that have managed
00:11:09managed to bring their debt down down over the past decade or so.
00:11:12so. The problem is it tends to be be those countries that saw something
00:11:16something of a fiscal crisis. So So it's places like Greece or Ireland
00:11:20Ireland or Cyprus, you know, wherever wherever wherever there was a realisation
00:11:24realisation that the debt burden burden was too high and something something needed to be done about
00:11:27about it. That's where countries countries have been able to take
00:11:30take measures to actually spend a a bit less, tax a bit more and bring
00:11:34bring things back into balance. OK, OK, Colin Ellis from Moody's, thank
00:11:38thank you very much indeed. And just just to say that our economics editor,
00:11:42editor, Faisal Islam, is going to to be in Bangkok very soon. I understand
00:11:45understand for that IMF World Bank Bank meeting, we'll be hearing from
00:11:48from him as it does unfold. How is
00:11:51is all of this being read by investors? investors? Well, US bond markets
00:11:54markets get a break today for Columbus Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples
00:11:57Peoples Day. The rest of Wall Street, Street, though it will be business
00:12:01business as usual. And it's a new new week, of course, with a lot going
00:12:05going on over the weekend that we've we've already been discussing. But
00:12:08But also it's a big earnings week
00:12:09week with a host of major US banks
00:12:12banks set to post results. Also other other companies as well. Let's talk
00:12:15talk to Susannah Streeter chief investment investment strategist at Wealth Club.
00:12:19Club. Morning, Susannah. Good morning morning Sally. So a new trading week,
00:12:22week, a new business week begins begins and there is just so much
00:12:26much going on. Give us your take.
00:12:28take. There is so much going on. on. Absolutely spot on there. Sally.
00:12:32Sally. Yeah. So we're looking ahead
00:12:35ahead to the earnings season kicking kicking off with the big banks. But
00:12:38But of course in the background to to all of this are these energy prices
00:12:42prices which are still staying elevated
00:12:44elevated despite this deal between between Putin and Trump. A crude
00:12:48crude Brent crude still hovering hovering around $103 a barrel. So
00:12:51So there may have been a tiny bit bit of relief, but it's not really
00:12:54really enough to offset what is happening happening in the Middle East. This,
00:12:58This, of course, all plays into what's what's happening on the markets and
00:13:01and certainly on the markets as well. well. You're still expecting a kind
00:13:05kind of K shaped performance because
00:13:07because you've got the big banks
00:13:10banks expected to again unveil some some pretty bumper profits because
00:13:14because of the volatility, increased increased trading activity, mergers mergers and acquisitions, a bit of
00:13:18of a kind of cyclical boost and also
00:13:22also energy majors as well as those
00:13:25those huge tech those mega tech AI
00:13:28AI giants, they're expected all to
00:13:31to deliver more bumper profits. Overall, Overall, the S&P 500 expected to
00:13:34to rise by around 30% year on year.
00:13:37year. Those are the earnings. But But at the other end of the scale,
00:13:41scale, because kind of Main Street
00:13:43Street High Street is suffering and and consumers have less money in
00:13:47in their pockets, those kind of consumer consumer discretionary companies companies aren't expected to do quite
00:13:51quite as well. So as I say to kind kind of two real stories I think
00:13:55think are going to emerge. And also also as well, we must note this morning
00:13:59morning for UK viewers, for the Chancellor, Chancellor, John Healey, who I've
00:14:01I've mentioned is in Bangkok currently currently the Institute for Fiscal
00:14:04Fiscal Studies coming out with its its warning ahead of the budget,
00:14:07budget, which is pretty soon saying saying that, you know, higher than
00:14:10than expected inflation is going going to eat into what the government
00:14:13government hoped to spend on public
00:14:16public services. Again, this speculation
00:14:19speculation ahead of the budget that that is dominating for the UK currently
00:14:23currently and impacting bond markets markets as well, isn't it? Absolutely.
00:14:26Absolutely. So you've got gilt yields
00:14:29yields so effectively the cost of
00:14:31of government borrowing those have have surged to multi-decade highs
00:14:35highs because of concerns that inflation inflation is ramping higher. And
00:14:39And central banks Bank of England England will have to increase interest
00:14:42interest rates. That's having an
00:14:44an impact. So that's eating in to
00:14:47to the any wriggle room that the
00:14:49the Chancellor did have. And of course course all this speculation about
00:14:53about where higher taxes could land
00:14:54land is also damaging. It does mean
00:14:57mean that lots of companies may kind
00:14:59kind of hold off investment. We know know that higher payroll taxes have
00:15:03have already been very onerous for
00:15:07for companies across multiple sectors. sectors. And I think there's this
00:15:10this kind of uncertainty now ahead ahead of the budget about what else
00:15:12else is going to happen. It's a tricky
00:15:14tricky balancing act to try and keep
00:15:16keep a lid on government spending. spending. Yet at the same time not
00:15:20not increase taxes in areas that that are going to penalise and stymie
00:15:24stymie growth. So that is the very very tricky balance that the Chancellor
00:15:28Chancellor has to face right now. now. Susanna, always good to get
00:15:31get you on the programme. We'll see see you soon. Have a good week. Susannah
00:15:34Susannah Streeter there at Wealth Wealth Club still to come, cultivating
00:15:38cultivating for the future. We find find out what it takes to plough
00:15:40plough the perfect line as farmers farmers face a tough harvest and
00:15:44and soaring costs around the world
00:15:46world and across the UK. This is
00:15:50is BBC News.
00:16:50MUSIC
00:16:59This is Business Today on BBC
00:17:01News. If we head to France, the Paris
00:17:03Paris motor show opens its doors doors today. The event is expected
00:17:07expected to include record numbers numbers of Chinese car makers at
00:17:10at a time when European manufacturers
00:17:12manufacturers are struggling to compete,
00:17:15compete, particularly when it comes comes to electric vehicles. Speaking
00:17:19Speaking on Sunday, Volkswagen's Volkswagen's chief executive Oliver
00:17:21Oliver Blume backed the EU's proposed
00:17:23proposed Made in Europe rules to
00:17:26to incentivise local manufacturing manufacturing as Europe's biggest
00:17:28biggest car maker undergoes huge huge restructuring. On Friday, the
00:17:32the EU said China had agreed to slash
00:17:35slash millions of hybrid car exports
00:17:37exports to the bloc following talks
00:17:39talks in Beijing. Well, Anna-Marie Anna-Marie Baisden joins me now.
00:17:42now. Director head of autos and infrastructure
00:17:46infrastructure research at BMI. Morning,
00:17:47Morning, Ann Marie. Morning, Sally.
00:17:50Sally. Can you just explain what what would the EU's Made in Europe
00:17:54Europe plans mean for the car industry?
00:17:57industry? Yes, it would mean any any kind of subsidies. Support would
00:18:01would come with requirements that that the vehicles are not only built
00:18:04built in Europe, but a large proportion
00:18:06proportion of the content is localised
00:18:09localised as well which could be be something of a challenge because,
00:18:13because, you know, a lot of the industry industry still highly reliant on
00:18:17on China in particular, but a lot lot of Asian countries for a lot
00:18:20lot of the supply chain. So it would would mean also having to develop
00:18:24develop that European supply chain
00:18:25chain more. What does it mean for
00:18:28for the UK? Well, this is this has
00:18:31has been difficult because there's
00:18:33there's a question of does the UK
00:18:35UK move with the EU in, in order
00:18:39order to make more of a level playing
00:18:42playing field in terms of regulation, regulation, you know, we had this
00:18:45this question with the tariffs on on Chinese electric cars. Should
00:18:48Should the EU move with the should
00:18:51should the UK move with the EU? So
00:18:53So that will be something the UK UK will be considering. Definitely
00:18:57Definitely it wants to protect its its own local manufacturing because,
00:19:01because, you know, to some extent extent we've seen production either
00:19:04either falling or at risk in the
00:19:05the UK. So that will be a big question.
00:19:08question. What is the price difference
00:19:11difference Anne-Marie, between a a European made EV compared to an
00:19:15an equivalent a Chinese made one.
00:19:20one. Well, at the moment we've definitely
00:19:23definitely seen EU sorry European European car prices coming down.
00:19:26down. We've seen a lot more smaller,
00:19:31smaller, affordable EVs coming out out in comparison with those Chinese
00:19:34Chinese ones. There's still though
00:19:36though even with the tariffs on the
00:19:39the Chinese cars, there's still enough
00:19:42enough margin there that the Chinese Chinese cars can be cheaper. You
00:19:46You know, we're starting to see attempts attempts to bring that down. So you
00:19:50you know, something we're expecting expecting to see in Paris is the
00:19:53the new Citroen two CV Citroen saying
00:19:55saying it wants to make that £15,000
00:19:58£15,000 or less or 15,000. So they're
00:20:00they're trying to get in the same same ballpark, but at the moment
00:20:04moment there's still a difference. difference. So how do you see this this playing out? Anne-Marie. Because
00:20:08Because as we have been reporting, reporting, there's this constant
00:20:11constant tussle between Beijing and
00:20:13and Brussels on this issue. Yes, Yes, certainly we're already seeing
00:20:17seeing more Chinese car makers actually
00:20:19actually coming to produce in Europe. Europe. And sometimes that's even
00:20:23even in partnership with European European car makers. You know, we're
00:20:26we're seeing some European companies, companies, Stellantis being one.
00:20:30one. Think of giving some of its its extra capacity to Chinese partners
00:20:33partners so that they can produce produce here. So we would expect
00:20:37expect to see more of that, more more Chinese production in the country.
00:20:41country. We're also expecting to to see more done around hybrids.
00:20:44hybrids. As you mentioned, put something something more formal in place and
00:20:47and to have tariffs on hybrids as as well, because that's about half
00:20:50half of the market right now. Anne-Marie, Anne-Marie, thank you so much. Anna-Marie
00:20:54Anna-Marie Baisden there from BMI
00:20:57BMI to artificial intelligence, as as the President of Microsoft says
00:21:00says that work on AI regulation needs needs to start immediately. Speaking
00:21:03Speaking to my colleague Will Bain Bain for the BBC's Big Boss interview,
00:21:06interview, he said that the current current system of self-regulation
00:21:10self-regulation isn't working. When
00:21:11When you look at AI agents that have
00:21:15have escaped human control, when when you look at models that are
00:21:18are so powerful that they're putting putting the world's cybersecurity
00:21:21cybersecurity at risk. I would say,
00:21:23say, look, the moment has arrived.
00:21:25arrived. Let's speak calmly, maybe
00:21:27maybe even softly but firmly, and
00:21:30and start to bring people together. together. I hope that's the role
00:21:33role we can play as a company. I I hope that's the role the UK can
00:21:36can play as a country. So there was was this accord that came out of
00:21:39of the White House, wasn't you were were notably not one of the signatories
00:21:43signatories as a company of that, that, but that was all about I'm
00:21:46I'm quoting the President again here, here, tremendous self-regulation. self-regulation. It sounds like from from what you're saying to me, without
00:21:50without putting words in your mouth, mouth, you don't think self-regulation self-regulation actually goes far
00:21:53far enough. There should be one body
00:21:55body somewhere that people are compelled. compelled. Forced what is it legally
00:21:58legally forced to put their models models through to test? I would say
00:22:01say two things. First, I applaud, applaud, I applaud, we applaud as
00:22:04as a company that statement and we're
00:22:07we're happy to sign it. It's a good good step. It's a necessary step.
00:22:11step. And fundamentally what it does does is it says companies should
00:22:13should have internal controls. It It should have internal auditors
00:22:17auditors looking at things like AI AI safety. We've been doing that
00:22:19that since almost a decade ago, and and there ought to be some external
00:22:23external evaluators as well, all
00:22:25all to the good. It's necessary.
00:22:28necessary. I don't think it's sufficient
00:22:31sufficient any longer because the
00:22:33the challenge for any self-regulatory self-regulatory regime is if it's
00:22:37it's left to the industry alone, alone, frankly, the good companies
00:22:40companies will do what you want. want. It's the companies that are
00:22:43are not as responsible that you need need to worry about. There you go.
00:22:47go. Another voice on AI. Now to an an industry that's been particularly
00:22:51particularly hard hit by rising fuel fuel and diesel costs, and that is
00:22:55is farming a notoriously tough sector sector that has been struggling with
00:22:57with the impact of the hottest summer summer on record here in the UK,
00:23:01UK, while dealing with a range of
00:23:02of higher input prices from machinery
00:23:05machinery to fertiliser. But that that doesn't mean they don't have
00:23:08have time for a bit of fun to showcase showcase their skills. With hundreds
00:23:12hundreds of farmers taking to the
00:23:14the wheel at the 75th British National
00:23:17National Ploughing Championship over over the weekend and David Chappell
00:23:20Chappell was ploughing in the Championships Championships over the weekend and
00:23:23and is an ex-British champion in
00:23:25in conventional ploughing. Welcome
00:23:27Welcome to the programme. Thank you. you. Good to be here. So how did
00:23:31did it go? I assume it was very competitive.
00:23:36competitive. It was very competitive competitive and almost 300 ploughmen
00:23:39ploughmen from all over Britain competing.
00:23:41competing. OK. So so what does it
00:23:44it take to be a winner? You are a
00:23:46a champion. What do you have to get
00:23:48get right? Well, you need a natural
00:23:50natural feel for the land. You need
00:23:53need good eyesight. You need to be
00:23:56be dedicated. A lot of patience. patience. And the most important
00:23:59important thing is you need good good tuition. You need these skills
00:24:03skills are passed on through the
00:24:06the generations and you need that
00:24:07that expert help to get you there.
00:24:10there. And what are the consequences
00:24:12consequences if you get it wrong?
00:24:15wrong? One little mistake and there's there's another ploughman there that's
00:24:18that's going to beat you. OK. But
00:24:21But what I mean though, for farmers
00:24:23farmers in general, for crops, for for their livelihoods, if they get
00:24:26get it wrong, is it a big problem?
00:24:31problem? Well good ploughing steals steals over the residues from the
00:24:34the previous crop, steals them down.
00:24:36down. The weed seeds get killed.
00:24:38killed. 85% of wheat seeds get killed. killed. You then need less chemicals.
00:24:41chemicals. You then need less fuel
00:24:43fuel to cover to create a seed bed
00:24:47bed for the next crop. And David,
00:24:49David, how long have you been farming?
00:24:53farming? I've been farming for over over 60 years. I've been the British
00:24:57British champion seven times and and I've been the world champion
00:24:59champion once. Wow. So you have an an awful lot to teach. As you say,
00:25:03say, it's all about passing it on.
00:25:05on. But David just. I'm interested interested how challenging has it
00:25:09it been in recent years? Farming.
00:25:13Farming. Well, the fuel prices, the
00:25:15the chemical prices, the fertiliser
00:25:17fertiliser prices have rocketed. rocketed. So because of events around
00:25:21around the world at the same time
00:25:23time we've got cheap food being dumped
00:25:26dumped on the country. That's reducing reducing the price of ours. It's
00:25:29It's not produced to the same high high standards that British forces.
00:25:32forces. And that's what we want to
00:25:33to see. We want to see the food produced
00:25:37produced to the correct standards, standards, to our high standards
00:25:41standards before it's imported into into Britain. We want to see government
00:25:44government introduce policies that that encourage production of food
00:25:48food from our own resources. Yeah, Yeah, David, we have heard it so
00:25:52so many times from farmers who we we do talk to on this programme,
00:25:54programme, and I know many of them them are up early watching as well. well. Thank you for your time this
00:25:58this morning. David Chappell their
00:26:01their former champion, as you heard heard several times, in fact of ploughing
00:26:05ploughing competitions. That's all
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