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Farming Today: 25/07/19 Hemp, badger vaccines, food waste and vets

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25/07/19 Hemp, badger vaccines, food waste and vets

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 25/07/19 Hemp, badger vaccines, food waste and vets

Hemp growers call for change to licensing, badger vaccines, and how to stop food waste.

A farmer destroys hemp crop after losing licence, a wildlife trust vaccinates badgers, how to stop £1.2 billion pounds of food waste on farms, plus 40 years of being a vet.

A farmer has destroyed his hemp crop after the Home Office revoked his licence.  
Hempen - the company which was going to use the stalks and seeds to make a variety of products - says losing the crop will cost it £200,000. It says it will have to use farmers in Europe to grow hemp now. It wants the system to be overhauled and says Defra should license growers, not the Home Office.
Avon Wildlife Trust has begun a programme to vaccinate badgers against bovine TB in one of the areas of south west England not covered by the badger cull. Over the past six years thousands of badgers have been shot as part of government attempts to control the spread of the disease in cattle. But wildlife groups says vaccination is more humane and cheaper.
How to stop £1.2 billion of food being wasted: A new report from the charity WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) says around seven per cent of the UK's annual food production is not being eaten. It wants farmers to start measuring how much they're wasting and find new outlets for unwanted produce.
Nearly 40 years of being a farm vet with the same practice: Sid Parker reflects on how the profession has changed.

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