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Farming Today: 12/12/2011

12/12/2011

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 12/12/2011

Warm weather means home grown coriander will be on the shelves three months early.

Charlotte Smith hears that the recent warm weather means home grown coriander will be on the shelves three months early.

Home grown coriander which would normally be ready to be harvested next March has grown so well in the recent mild weather that growers are selling it three months early. But farmers warn any cold snap could damage the mature plant.

This week marks the beginning of the Christmas rush for British vegetable growers. For Brussels sprout producers the demand for the veg increases four-fold and farmers have to work around the clock to pick, process and pack the crop.

Over the past 10 years the number of British butterflies has dropped by three quarters, according to the organisation Butterfly Conservation. It says that some schemes which pay farmers to farm in an environmentally friendly way could do more to help boost numbers.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Angela Frain.

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