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Farming Today: 05/06/20 Beaver shooting; wool prices; weather extremes and crops; Desert Island Disc choice

05/06/20 Beaver shooting; wool prices; weather extremes and crops; Desert Island Disc choice

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 05/06/20 Beaver shooting; wool prices; weather extremes and crops; Desert Island Disc choice

Beaver shooting controversy; plummeting wool prices; crops affected by weather extremes.

Conservationists' outrage over beaver shooting.
Price of wool doesn't cover the cost of shearing.
Extremes of weather affecting arable crops.
Charlotte Smith's Desert Island Disc.

There’s been outrage among conservationists in Scotland at the news that 87 beavers were shot there in the first eight months after they gained protected status in May 2019. Farmers kill the reintroduced animals under licence because they dam ditches and burns and flood fields.  But changes to policy could cut the shootings, calm the anger and even put some money into farmers’ pockets.

The cost of shearing a sheep and transporting its wool is now greater than than the value of the fleece, and because of the global pandemic, prices this year are worse than ever. Richard Heady from Buckinghamshire tells us how shearing his flock leaves him out of pocket. 

A very wet winter has been followed by the warmest of springs - May was the sunniest calendar month on record for the UK. This sudden switch from extreme wet to extreme dry is taking its toll on soil, and the crops trying to grow in it. One arable farmer in Wiltshire says it's had a drastic effect on his barley.

As part of a day-long celebration of Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4, Charlotte Smith chooses the track that makes her get up and dance.

Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Rebecca Rooney

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05/06/20 Beaver shooting; wool prices; weather extremes and crops; Desert Island Disc choice

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