Farming Today This Week

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Farming Today: 29/08/20 Farming Today This Week: Poultry, Red Tractor, Deforestation, Pharrell Williams video

29/08/20 Farming Today This Week: Poultry, Red Tractor, Deforestation, Pharrell Williams video

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 29/08/20 Farming Today This Week: Poultry, Red Tractor, Deforestation, Pharrell Williams video

Sybil Ruscoe takes a look at chicken farming, and asks about welfare issues.

Sybil Ruscoe looks at the poultry sector, and asks about welfare standards and environmental concerns when it comes to farming chickens for meat.

Sybil Ruscoe takes a look at the poultry sector, and asks what the main animal welfare concerns are when it comes to broiler chickens. Why is that although around half of the UK's egg-laying flock are free-range, less than 10% of broiler chickens have access to outdoor space? And why do welfare needs and enviromental concerns pull in opposite directions? We visit a farm with sheds housing more than 30,000 birds, and hear from an animal welfare specialist from the Royal Agricultural University. 

The Red Tractor farm assurance scheme has been in the spotlight this week, after an undercover investigation by animal rights campaigners revealed shocking conditions at a pig farm in Leicestershire. Sybil talks to the chief executive of Red Tractor, to ask how their scheme works and why the farm had accreditation up until a month ago.

We find out about proposed new legislation which would force UK businesses to prove that their products aren’t connected to illegal deforestation. It would mean companies could be fined if they can't show that commodities they use - such as soya, cocoa and palm oil - are produced responsibly. We get reaction from the Food and Drink Federation and the Wildwide Fund for Nature.

And a first for Farming Today - an agricultural link to rap artists Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z! We meet the Aberdeenshire farmers who appear in their music video.

Produced by Emma Campbell for BBC Audio in Bristol.

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