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Farming Today: Food safety, water management, cider celebrations

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29/01/2018

Food safety, water management, cider celebrations

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Food safety, water management, cider celebrations

In the wake of another food safety investigation, how confident can we be as consumers?

In the wake of investigations at poultry supplier 2 Sisters and meat supplier Russell Hume, there are calls for the government to boost funding for food safety inspections.

How confident are you that what you're eating is what you think it is? In the wake of the horse meat scandal and investigations at poultry supplier 2 Sisters and meat supplier Russell Hume, there are calls to boost funding for food safety inspections. Now, MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee want assurances that the government will put more money towards the Food Standards Agency's National Food Crime Unit - while there have been calls from some quarters for greater transparency in FSA investigations.

Water is always a hot topic in the agriculture sector. While farmers in the east of the country struggle with shortages, those in the west battle flooding. Add to that arguments over agriculture taking water from rivers, or polluting waterways with run-off from fields, and you can understand why discussions about water management are rarely short. All this week, Farming Today looks at the big issues around water and agriculture - including whether farmers are doing enough to manage the resource... Charlotte Smith speaks to the National Farmers Union's Water Advisor, Paul Hammett.

An apple farm in Somerset is celebrating 100 years of cider-making.
Farmer Roger Wilkins is 70 years old, and has become a bit of a local legend - with hundreds coming to sample his cider at the winter wassail.
We hear from BBC Inside Out West's Heather Simons, who followed the farm's fortunes over the course of a year - ahead of the full story airing tonight from 7.30pm on BBC One in the West - or available nationally via the BBC iPlayer.

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