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Farming Today: 15/10/22 Avian flu, Tenant Farmers, International trade

15/10/22 Avian flu, Tenant Farmers, International trade

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 15/10/22 Avian flu, Tenant Farmers, International trade

Impact of avian flu lockdown; tenant farmers report; international trade.

As the number of avian flu outbreaks continues to rise, new restrictions have been introduced. It's been the worst year ever for the disease, with more than 170 incidents reported.  Now flocks in Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex will have to be kept inside to try to protect them. Flocks in Devon, Cornwall and part of Somerset have been under restrictions since the end of August, and wild birds too are badly affected. We speak to a free-range egg producer on the Norfolk / Suffolk border to find out how it's affecting his business.

England should have a tenant farmers commissioner, the law should be changed to improve tenancies and DEFRA should change its schemes to make them more accessible to farmers renting land.  Just some of the 74 recommendations from the Tenant Working Group whose report has just been published. It aims to examine the way tenancies work and how the new Envronmental Land Management Schemes, or ELMS,  fit in for farmers who don't own the land, and it says 64 per cent of farmland in England is rented.

All week we've talking about international trade, from lamb and cheese, to barley and salad. We find out how global markets, spiralling costs and the war in Ukraine are affecting British producers.

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