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Farming Today: 26/08/20 – Deforestation regulations, ammonia from poultry farms, the badger cull

US secretary of agriculture, EFRA Committee reports, haricot beans

26/08/20 – Deforestation regulations, ammonia from poultry farms, the badger cull

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 26/08/20 – Deforestation regulations, ammonia from poultry farms, the badger cull

Could new laws force UK businesses to prove their products aren’t linked to deforestation?

New laws could force UK businesses to prove that products they import with links to deforestation - such as soya, cocoa and palm oil - are produced responsibly, or face fines.

The Government is proposing new laws that will force UK businesses to prove that their products aren’t connected to illegal deforestation. Commodities such as soya, cocoa, rubber, and palm oil will have to be produced responsibly, or companies will face hefty fines.
Sybil Ruscoe finds out what food manufacturers make of the news, from the Food and Drink Federation’s Helen Munday; and asks Dr Emma Keller, agricultural commodities manager with the World Wildlife Fund, whether this could be the start of much stronger environmental measures for UK industry.

In 2008, Welsh Government figures showed there was 2.1 million chickens - by 2019 that figure had rocketed to close to 10 million. 
So what environmental impact are poultry farms having on the countryside? As part of Farming Today's week-long focus on poultry, Mariclare Carey-Jones finds out.

The badger cull started in August 2013 as a four-year pilot project, but is now in its eighth year – aiming to find out whether shooting badgers can help stop the spread of bovine TB in cattle. In last year’s cull, around 35,000 badgers were killed. Last week, a leaked document suggested that this year it could be up to 64,500 animals; despite an announcement from the Government earlier this year that they intend to phase out badger culling.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs hasn’t yet released details of the cull for 2020, but campaign group The Badger Trust says the leaked document shows culling will include new areas where government-backed vaccination projects are underway. Sybil speaks to Tim Birch from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

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