Farming Today

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Farming Today: Avian flu vaccines, Hodmedods, BVD in Northern Ireland

Avian flu vaccines, Hodmedods, BVD in Northern Ireland

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Avian flu vaccines, Hodmedods, BVD in Northern Ireland

Why aren't poultry flocks being vaccinated against avian flu?

We look into the details of why poultry flocks aren't being vaccinated against avian flu.

As avian flu cases continue to rise across the country, poultry producers across Great Britain are following strict guidelines on biosecurity measures to prevent its spread.  Farmers have been asking to be allowed to vaccinate their birds - we look into the details of why that's not currently permitted.

We visit Hodmedods, which was set up 10 years ago in Norwich. It aims to bring alternative crops to market and recruits farmers locally to grow for them while also finding markets for those products.

And there is anger and frustration from farmers in Northern Ireland at what they see as a failure by the Department of Agriculture to act on Bovine Viral Diarrhoea. There's been a programme running since 2016 to try and get rid of it and the number of cases had been going down. But over the past year, there's been a turnaround and the number of infected cattle is rising again.

Presented by Anna Hill
Produced for BBC Audio by Heather Simons

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