Farming Today

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Farming Today: 24/02/20 - Sheep worrying, Net Zero farming and lead ammunition

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24/02/20 - Sheep worrying, Net Zero farming and lead ammunition

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 24/02/20 - Sheep worrying, Net Zero farming and lead ammunition

Livestock worrying cost UK farming an estimated £1.2 million pounds last year. Could professional dog walkers be making it worse?

We're heading into lambing season - when ewes and lambs in the fields are particularly vulnerable to attack by out of control dogs. The insurance firm - NFU Mutual - estimates livestock worrying cost UK farming over £1.2 million pounds last year. We hear from one sheep farmer on the South Downs in Sussex who says the rise of professional dog walkers - who take several dogs out together - could be making the problem worse.

Agriculture is responsible for 9% of the UK's green house gas emissions. The National Farmers Union has an ambitious target of being 'Net Zero' in farm emissions by 2040. This week we're looking at how the industry across the UK can reach that target, starting with a visit to a farm in Cambridgeshire run by the Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network. Martin Lines says farming must cut emissions before it's too late.

And shooting, country sports and landowning organisations appear to have bowed to pressure from wildlife groups by announcing they want to stop the use lead shot and 'single-use plastic' shotgun cartridges within 5 years. Lead is toxic and is already banned from use around wetlands but the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust says between fifty and a hundred thousand wild birds are still killed each winter in the UK from lead poisoning. So is a voluntary scheme enough?

Presented by Sybil Ruscoe
Produced by Heather Simons

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24/02/20 - Sheep worrying, Net Zero farming and lead ammunition

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