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Farming Today: 29/22/2022 Pigs; dwarf wheat; Clydesdale horses

29/22/2022 Pigs; dwarf wheat; Clydesdale horses

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 29/22/2022 Pigs; dwarf wheat; Clydesdale horses

100s of Filipino butchers help tackle UK labour shortage; dwarf wheat; Clydesdale horses.

Pig sector recruits from Philippines.
Not too long, not too short - just right! Wheat to combat climate change.
World Clydesdale Show celebrates one of the rarest horse breeds.

Pig producers are still facing difficult times. Although the price they receive has gone up, pig farmers are reported to be losing on average £33 per animal. The AHDB estimates the sector's lost £750 million over the past two years.  It's now reported that major processors, Cranswick, are spending £4 million recruiting and training 400 butchers from the Philippines for their factories in Hull and Norfolk. There are also reports that the Danish pig herd has dropped to its lowest level in 22 years. and a significant amount of pork is imported into the UK from Denmark.

As Avian flu continues to hit farmed and wild birds, Wales and Northern Ireland join the rest of the UK this week, in having to house all domestic and commercial poultry. 

Since the 1960's 'green revolution', farmers have been planting wheat which is shorter - or dwarfed varieties - which means they don't fall down in the field. However, climate change and lower water tables mean farmers need to plant wheat deeper in the ground and sometimes these dwarf varieties fail to emerge at all. Now scientists at John Innes in Norwich have isolated a gene which can be bred into new varieties without gene editing, which means the plants are still short but have better early growth to improve emergence.

Clydesdale horses are a native breed of Scotland, originally bred for heavy farm and industrial work. Now they're now on the Rare Breeds Survival Trusts' "at risk" register. The World Clydesdale Show in Aberdeen brought together more than 300 animals from all over the country, Europe - and even  North America. An underground car park was turned into a giant livery yard and vintage machinery store for the week.  Nancy Nicolson spoke to the breeders who champion Clydesdales around the world.

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29/22/2022 Pigs; dwarf wheat; Clydesdale horses

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