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Farming Today: 31/10/20 - Farming Today This Week: Licensing pheasant shoots, hunting, Pick for Britain and giant pumpkins

31/10/20 - Farming Today This Week: Licensing pheasant shoots, hunting, Pick for Britain and giant pumpkins

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 31/10/20 - Farming Today This Week: Licensing pheasant shoots, hunting, Pick for Britain and giant pumpkins

The government introduces licensing for the release of game birds near conservation sites.

The government announces a new licensing regime for the release of pheasants and partridges on or around conservation sites.

Game shooting has been under increasing scrutiny recently, with the RSPB coming out in favour of regulation. Now, the Government has announced that from next year, it will be introducing a system of licensing for the release of pheasants and red-legged partridges. It follows campaigning by Wild Justice, which claims the release of nearly 60 million non-native game birds each year in the UK is damaging the environment. Caz Graham hears from both sides of the debate.

It's 15 years since the Hunting Act came into force, banning hunting with dogs. Since then there have been over 500 convictions under the Act, but the Countryside Alliance says fewer than 30 of the offenders were involved with registered hunts. It says most convictions under the Act have been for illegal poaching. We hear from hunts and saboteurs.

The UK's fruit and veg growers are dependent on around 70 thousand seasonal workers to harvest their crops. They're mostly migrants, but this summer, with concerns that COVID and Brexit would mean fewer coming, the Government launched it's Pick for Britain campaign to encourage furloughed workers to get jobs on farms. Despite that, figures from the NFU show just 11% of pickers this year were UK residents. So why so few? We hear from one British fruit picker who was fired after failing to meet her daily targets, and speak to the NFU about what this all means for next year's season.

And it's been a bad year for selling pumpkins...but even more so for selling GIANT pumpkins! We hear from one Lancashire farmer who's been unable to shift his enormous gourds.

Presented by Caz Graham
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

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