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09/03/2023 Anger at drop in income for hill farmers, dairy welfare tech, new register for backyard hens
Podcast |
Farming Today
Publisher |
BBC
Media Type |
audio
Categories Via RSS |
Science
Publication Date |
Mar 09, 2023
Episode Duration |
00:13:31
"The greatest catastrophe for nature and farming in a lifetime". That's the verdict of the lake district hill farmer and writer James Rebanks on the Government's payments to upland farmers. Figures from Defra that show incomes for upland farmers are facing a massive hit, as payments under the new post-Brexit scheme in England do not come up to the level of previous payments under the old EU system. Mr Rebanks tells us that will force farmers to increase the number of livestock they keep - the opposite of what the Government says it wants. A cow mattress, lameness monitoring or a cattle handling system - just some of the things farmers in England can now get a grant for as part of the Government's Sustainable Farming Incentive. Livestock farmers in England can now access grants of up to £25,000 to improve the welfare of their animals. This week we're focusing on dairy farming and so those grants might help buy ball toys for calves or a computer programme for monitoring lameness, and some of the available options were on display at this year's Dairy Tech event. Should everyone keeping hens have to register with the Government? At the moment only people who keep a flock of more than 50 has to register with the Animal and Plant Health Agency, but Defra is consulting on plans to extend that in an attempt to control the spread of avian flu. This would also cover birds of prey and pigeons but not pet birds kept inside. As we've reported, the past few years have seen the biggest outbreak of bird flu here and across Europe with tens of millions of poultry birds culled and a big impact on wild bird populations too. We hear from the Cheif Vet, Christine Middlemiss. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

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