Farming Today

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Farming Today: 02/03/22 - Early asparagus harvest, storm damage and wildlife, new potato body and returning yellowhammers.

US secretary of agriculture, EFRA Committee reports, haricot beans

02/03/22 - Early asparagus harvest, storm damage and wildlife, new potato body and returning yellowhammers.

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 02/03/22 - Early asparagus harvest, storm damage and wildlife, new potato body and returning yellowhammers.

How has one farmer started harvesting asparagus nearly 2 months early?

We hear from a farmer in Hampshire who is using a waste product from strawberry production to grow asparagus earlier in the year.

Fruit farmers often have sophisticated techniques for lengthening their harvest seasons and making plants bare fruit earlier in the year. Now, one strawberry grower has applied that skill to asparagus to start his harvest nearly 2 months early. At New Forest Fruit in Hampshire, coconut coir from old strawberry growing bags is re-purposed to build up the soil around the asparagus plants, allowing them to warm up faster in the spring.

Nearly a year ago potato farmers and processors voted to stop paying their levy to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board. The AHDB was set up to instigate research projects to improve agriculture and to market British produce - every potato farmer paid it a levy based on their turnover. Potato growers felt they were paying too much for the services they were receiving. We hear from a group of nine farmers are now looking into setting up a new group called GB Potatoes, to represent growers across the country.

And we visit a group of potato farmers in Pembrokeshire who are trying to produce environmentally sustainable potatoes. They're minimizing carbon emissions and offsetting those that are unavoidable. They're also feeding farmland birds and have already seen an increase in yellowhammer numbers in the area.

Presented by Anna Hill
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

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02/03/22 - Early asparagus harvest, storm damage and wildlife, new potato body and returning yellowhammers.

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