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Farming Today: 27/05/22 New EFRA Committe chair; Flowers; Sugar Beet; Puffins.

27/05/22 New EFRA Committe chair; Flowers; Sugar Beet; Puffins.

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 27/05/22 New EFRA Committe chair; Flowers; Sugar Beet; Puffins.

A new chair for the EFRA select committee; Bio-dynamic flowers; Sugar Beet; Puffin count.

Sir Robert Goodwill elected as chairman of the EFRA select committee. High-value organic flowers. Cash advance for sugar beet growers. A puffin census on the Farne Islands.

Sir Robert Goodwill is the new chairman of the EFRA select committee which keeps an eye on DEFRA. He's a Yorkshire farmer and former farming minister.

The UK market for cut flowers and ornamental plants was £1.4 billion in 2020, according to government statistics and around 90% of these flowers are imported. Producer Jane Scotter grows fruit and veg in Herefordshire but she's found that cut flowers make more money. She grows them bio-dynamically - without using pesticides or herbicides. Her 12 acre plot supplies a London restaurant with veg, fruit and flowers and she sells blooms to florists.

Sugar beet growers are being offered a cash advance. To help farmers cope with rising costs, British Sugar is offering them 25% of their money by the end of June, rather than waiting until they deliver the beet in the autumn. The amount will be based on a  five year average of their payments. The National Farmers Union’s sugar board says it hopes it will persuade growers to stick with the crop:

Conservationists are counting puffins on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast. They’re one of the most important sites for puffins in the UK and one of the most popular places for people to see them. It’s the first proper count since Covid and rangers say it’ll be critical  in assessing just how the birds are faring.

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27/05/22 New EFRA Committe chair; Flowers; Sugar Beet; Puffins.

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