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Farming Today: 09/03/20 - The Northern Ireland Protocol, thermal cameras for spotting birds and lambing starts

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09/03/20 - The Northern Ireland Protocol, thermal cameras for spotting birds and lambing starts

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 09/03/20 - The Northern Ireland Protocol, thermal cameras for spotting birds and lambing starts

What could the Northern Ireland Protocol mean for farming and fishing?

According to the Northern Ireland Protocol, EU rules around agricultural and manufactured goods would be retained - and trade barriers with the rest of the UK could emerge.

There are concerns from farmers and fishermen and women about what the Northern Ireland Protocol will mean for trade, once the Brexit transition period is over. Northern Ireland would have to RETAIN the EU's rules around agricultural and manufactured goods - and that could create trade barriers if the rest of the country ditches EU rules from next year. We hear the latest thoughts from farmers and fishermen.

We visit a farm in south Staffordshire, where birds are being monitored using thermal imaging cameras. Members of the Belvide Bird Ringing Group go out at night to catch and ring species like skylarks, which are hard to get using the more traditional mist nets. Usually only about 200 skylarks a year are ringed across the whole of the UK but with the high tech kit, the team ringed 400 on just one farm.

And as the lambing season kicks off, we focus on the sheep sector. There are about 34 million sheep across the UK - 17 million of them lambs - and in 2018 we produced nearly three hundred thousand tonnes of sheep meet. 

Presented by Sybil Ruscoe
Produced by Heather Simons

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09/03/20 - The Northern Ireland Protocol, thermal cameras for spotting birds and lambing starts

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