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Farming Today: 24/03/22 - The Welsh NVZ, manure instead of fertiliser and selling lamb direct

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24/03/22 - The Welsh NVZ, manure instead of fertiliser and selling lamb direct

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 24/03/22 - The Welsh NVZ, manure instead of fertiliser and selling lamb direct

Can increasingly expensive fertiliser be replaced with manures?

How much of the artificial fertiliser used on farms could be replaced with organic manures?

A farmer in Lancashire is reported to be spending a lottery win on...fertiliser! The cost of artificial fertilisers has quadrupled this year - some farmers tell us they’re being asked to pay around £1,000 a tonne. The DEFRA Secretary George Eustice says the long term solution is using more manure. We ask an expert whether that could work.

Meanwhile, farmers in Wales face stricter rules on the use of manures - and yesterday NFU Cymru lost its legal bid to change that. The High Court ruled the Welsh Government had not acted illegally in making the whole country a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone to tackle water pollution.

And though over the past few years as a country we’ve been eating less lamb, we visit a farm where a meat box scheme has uncovered a new enthusiasm for the meat.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

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24/03/22 - The Welsh NVZ, manure instead of fertiliser and selling lamb direct

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