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Farming Today: 29/03/21 Mussel farm legal action against Defra; Reopening the countryside; Agricultural finances

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29/03/21 Mussel farm legal action against Defra; Reopening the countryside; Agricultural finances

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 29/03/21 Mussel farm legal action against Defra; Reopening the countryside; Agricultural finances

Mussel farmer's legal action against Defra; Rural areas re-open to visitors; Agri-finances

Mussel farmer starts legal action against Defra. He says they've misled him about exporting to Europe. The countryside reopens after lockdown. Calls for an agroecological bank.

A Devon mussel farmer is considering legal action against the government over the way it's handled the impact of Brexit on businesses like his.  Offshore Shellfish says Defra gave repeated reassurances to exporters of bivalve molluscs, telling them that their European trade in farmed mussels would be able to continue once Britain had left the EU. However its owner John Holmyard, says Defra got it wrong.

Lockdown restrictions are being eased and people in England no longer have to 'stay home' but they do need to 'stay local'. Last year when the rules changed, some tourist spots were overwhelmed. Communities on the south coast and the New Forest don't want that to happen again, so they have invested in better facilities for visitors.
 
The Food, Farming and Countryside Commission is calling for an agroecological development bank . Chairman Sir Ian Cheshire says it would cost about a billion pounds to set one up, but believes it's the only way farmers will be able to access the investment they'll need to achieve targets on carbon emissions and bio-diversity.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer - Rebecca Rooney

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