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Farming Today: Neonicotinoids, rural pubs and spring on the farm

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27/03/2017

Neonicotinoids, rural pubs and spring on the farm

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Neonicotinoids, rural pubs and spring on the farm

Could neonicotinoids be banned outright on fields throughout the EU?

Leaked plans suggest a full EU ban on neonicotinoids in field crops. Village pubs improve community feeling, according to researchers. Wet weather is hampering spring farm work.

The row over neonicotinoids has taken a new twist with leaked documents suggesting an outright EU-wide ban on their use in field crops. Damian Carrington of The Guardian has seen the unpublished European Commission documents and thinks the controversial pesticides could be outlawed by the end of the year.
The village pub has always been popular but now researchers say there is proof that a rural watering-hole has positive effects on the community. A team from Newcastle Business School and Leeds University looked at 300 parishes and discovered better social cohesion if there was a local pub. The findings are being welcomed by campaigners in the Yorkshire village of Kirkby Malzeard who are campaigning for the re-opening of a favourite hostelry.
The clocks have gone forward and spring is in the air. traditionally this is the time of year when farming gets underway again in earnest. But some farmers, particularly in East Anglia and the North of England, say wet conditions are hampering work on arable fields and delaying spring grazing for livestock.
Presented by Charlotte Smith.
Produced by Vernon Harwood.

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