Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Farming Today

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

BBC Radio 4 LW

Farming Today: Fake Russian cheese, Dairy costs, Land-based education

farming-today_friday_0709_getty.jpg

09/10/2015

Fake Russian cheese, Dairy costs, Land-based education

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Fake Russian cheese, Dairy costs, Land-based education

The impacts of the Russian import ban, both on UK dairy farmers and Russian consumers.

The impact of the Russian import ban, both on UK dairy farmers and on Russian consumers. With less milk available, Russian cheesemakers are using more palm oil than milk.

Russia's agricultural watchdog has found that a quarter of all dairy products on sale are not true dairy. The picture's worse for cheese, where more than three quarters of those examined were found to be fake, in that palm oil had been added rather than just using milk. We hear that the report's led to denials and recriminations from different government departments, but how bothered are consumers?

"Golden hellos" and subsidised housing are just a few of the tactics some local authorities in Scotland are having to use to recruit enough teachers to keep their schools fully staffed. Attracting new teachers has become such a problem that six councils in the north and north east of Scotland have held a summit this week to try and come up with some solutions.

The majority of dairy farmers don't know how much it costs them to produce milk. That's according to five leading dairy consultancy groups who say that around 60% of producers who don't know, must get to grips with exactly what goes into producing a litre of milk, and make sure that figure includes costs like family labour and saving for retirement. With the price of milk remaining stubbornly low, farmers are being urged to do everything they can do reduce production costs and adopt more long term financial planning, so they're more able to withstand an increasingly volatile global market. We ask farmers at the Dairy Show in Somerset whether they know their cost of production.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Mark Smalley.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Farming Today

Fake Russian cheese, Dairy costs, Land-based education

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4