Farming Today - 02/04/2010

Was the last beef you ate melt in the mouth tender or tough as old boots? The English meat industry is trying to find out exactly how much of the beef on sale in supermarkets is a bit too chewy. They're sending out mystery shoppers to buy beef from the major retailers, which will then be tested for toughness. Charlotte Smith asks EBLEX, The English Beef and Lamb Executive, why they are carrying out the research. Also on Farming Today, at the moment around a third of the English coastline doesn't have a legal right of way for walkers. That's about to change, as a blueprint's been published for how an all-England coastal path will actually work. The scheme got the go-ahead from the government last year, and now Natural England is explaining how it'll decide where the 4 metre wide route will go, and how conflicts with landowners and others will be resolved. Farming Today is presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Anna Varle.