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Farming Today: Scottish agriculture, Bee diseases, Farm machinery

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19/01/2015

Scottish agriculture, Bee diseases, Farm machinery

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Scottish agriculture, Bee diseases, Farm machinery

New legislation could mean that Scottish farmers get more say in Europe.

In a key week for Scottish devolution, Charlotte Smith finds out what new legislation in the wake of 2013's referendum could mean for farmers in Scotland.

This is a key week for Scottish devolution, with publication expected of the draft version of clauses to be included in the Scotland Bill. After the no vote in last year's independence referendum, it was agreed that further powers would be devolved to Scotland - including income tax, VAT, and air passenger duty.
One of the less publicised areas is farming. Agriculture is already devolved, but when it comes to negotiations in the EU, the United Kingdom is still represented as one entity - in the form of Defra. New powers will mean that Scottish farmers' views must be taken into account when UK ministers go to Europe.

There are calls for stricter regulation on the use of bees, following new research at the University of Exeter which shows that viruses found on bees used to pollinate commercial crops can jump into wild populations, with potentially devastating results. Charlotte Smith talks to one of the researchers.

The LAMMA show, which is the UK's largest farm machinery and equipment show, takes place in Peterborough this week. Charlotte asks two specialist agricultural journalists what's hot in the world of combine harvesters.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Emma Campbell.

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