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Farming Today: 29/07/22 - Sea eagles, Dutch farmers' protest

29/07/22 - Sea eagles, Dutch farmers' protest

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 29/07/22 - Sea eagles, Dutch farmers' protest

Another Scottish MP is calling for a cull of sea eagles, which farmers and crofters say are taking lambs. And, why farmers in the Netherlands are protesting.

Scottish MP Angus MacNeil is calling for a cull of sea eagles as farmers and crofters say they are taking more lambs as numbers grow. The bird - with a wing-span of around two metres - was driven to extinction in Scotland, until reintroduction programmes in the 1970s brought them back. Now there are more than a hundred breeding pairs. NatureScot is offering management schemes, including funding extra shepherds to help farmers. But so far there is no compensation for lost revenue, and no plans for a managed cull.

Dutch farmers have been making headlines around the world, not for their agricultural produce but intensive protests. Tractors have rolled up outside parliament, blocked supermarket distribution centres and turned up outside politicians' homes. Even Donald Trump has weighed in, in support of the farmers. The demonstrations are against the Dutch government's plans to cut harmful nitrogen emissions to meet climate targets. The farmers argue the government's proposals are unrealistic and unfairly target their industry.

The presenter is Charlotte Smith.

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