The relationship between landowners and tenant farmers can be a difficult one - but it’s hoped a new Code of Practice could help improve things. It was one of the key recommendations of the Rock Review into tenant farming in England. The Tenant Farmers Association has called it a “major step forward”, saying “for too long tenants have felt marginalised and mistreated.” And we visit a state of the art pig farm to find out about a replacement for ‘farrowing crates’.  These are the small pens where sows are confined by rails while, and after, giving birth to stop them lying on and smothering their piglets. Sows can get up and lie down, but not turn around or move about until the piglets are weaned when they’re about a month old. The use of these crates is banned in Sweden, Norway and Switzerland and they may also be phased out in the UK.  Presented by Caz Graham
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

09/04/24 - Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice, farrowing crates

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

Science

Three UK vet practices are now offering IVF for cows. It's a common practise for dairy cows to be made pregnant using artificial insemination, but IVF is more specialist. It allows for multiple embryos to be produced from one particularly good cow, meaning the genetics of a herd can be improved more quickly and its health and productivity improved. But it means hormonal treatments and some invasive procedures for the cow - so is it ethical? In a world first, methane from slurry on a farm in Somerset is being broken down and turned into hydrogen gas and graphene. Graphene is a material that was discovered in the UK 20 years ago, and is normally made from mining graphite rock. But a company called Levidian has developed a process which separates the carbon and hydrogen in methane gas, to make graphene and hydrogen.  And ten police forces across the country will soon be trialling new forensic technology to help identify dogs involved in livestock attacks. We hear from farmers affected and find out why the police think this new kit will help. Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

15/06/24 - Reproductive ethics in livestock, dog DNA and seed breeding

The vets using IVF to improve dairy herds, and could a new 2-stage planning system help kickstart the rural economy? We hear from the CLA on what it wants from the next government.
In a special episode of On Your Farm recorded at the Hay Festival, Kate Humble explains how she accidentally ended up buying a council farm in the beautiful Wye Valley in Wales. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

14/06/24 IVF in dairy cows, CLA election manifesto, flooding, Kate Humble at the Hay Festival

We’re talking about vets all this week and one of the most difficult and unpleasant jobs they face is dealing with serious illness and disease in livestock, like the devastating foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. Breaking the painful news to a farmer that their whole livelihood is under threat is something no one wants on their job description.  The threat of bovine TB can take a heavy toll on the mental wellbeing of both farmers and vets. We meet a dairy farmer in Derbyshire who's lived under the shadow of TB all her life, and also the farm vet who runs the TB Advisory Service which supports farmers and vets. As the general election campaigning continues, party manifestos are coming out, thick and fast. We’re going to be taking a detailed look at all of the main manifestos with key party spokes-people, the week before the election on 4th July, but we’re also hearing from a range of campaign groups and organisations that live and breath farming, rural life, wildlife and the environment to find out what they would like from the next government.  Today it’s the Wildlife Trusts, the organisation that campaigns for wildlife and wild places. Ten police forces across the country are to trial new forensic technology to help identify dogs involved in livestock attacks. It involves collecting canine DNA at the scene.
The South West of England has more dog attacks of this kind than anywhere else in the country – last year, farm animals worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were severely injured or killed by dogs, according to NFU Mutual. The hope is these new DNA test kits will recue the number of dog attacks.  Presenter = Caz Graham
Producer = Rebecca Rooney

13/06/24 Farm vets and the strain of TB; Wildlife Trusts election wish list; Dog DNA

Post-Brexit trade barriers are leaving the UK behind when it comes to introducing new varieties of crops - according to the British Society of Plant Breeders. Anna Hill reports from the arable event, Cereals 2024, where seed breeding is centre stage. After one of the wettest years on record left many farmers have been struggling to get out into the fields to plant or spray crops...but new drone technology could help - making it possible to spray on land that's still too soft to put heavy machinery on. And away from the show, we visit a Welsh livestock farm to find out how vets and farmers are working together to reduce the use of antibiotics. Presented by Anna Hill
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

12/06/24 - Cereals 2024, the arable event

In a world first, methane from slurry on a dairy farm in Somerset is being broken down and turned into hydrogen gas and graphene. The farm involved is Worthy Farm, which hosts the Glastonbury Festival. It already has an anaerobic digester which uses slurry from their dairy cows to make methane which is used to make electricity, and now also used to make graphene. We find out how it all works. Last year tens of thousands of sheep in the Netherlands died after contracting bluetongue - a virus transmitted by biting midges. Famers in England are being warned to be vigilant for signs of the disease, and scientists at the Pirbright Institute in Surrey are studying midges to try to predict what might happen this summer. And a shortage of vets means recruiting can be a challenge - and it can be even harder for practices in remote areas. We visit from practice in Fort William in the West Highlands who are finding it difficult to recruit a new member of staff. Presented by Anna Hill
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

09/04/24 - Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice, farrowing crates

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