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Farming Today: 30/11/2022 Avian flu and turkeys, forestry, conservation grazing.

30/11/2022 Avian flu and turkeys, forestry, conservation grazing.

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 30/11/2022 Avian flu and turkeys, forestry, conservation grazing.

Turkey farmers and avian flu, planting resilient forests, ponies for conservation grazing.

Producing turkeys under avian flu restrictions.
Planting forests that can withstand climate change.
Using ponies for conservation grazing.

Nearly half the free-range turkeys being produced for Christmas in the UK have been culled or died because of avian flu. that was the message from the poultry industry to the Environment Food and Rural Affairs select committee which has been taking evidence about the spread of bird flu. But one turkey farmer who wants to cull his turkeys early, to avoid the risk, says he is struggling to get hold of the Animal and Plant Health Agency to ensure he can slaughter his birds in time for Christmas. 

It was a year ago that Storm Arwen struck the North East of England and Eastern Scotland causing three deaths, and damaging swathes of woodland and countryside, with power cuts for hundreds of thousands of homes. The first official report showing how much damage was caused to woodland by Storm Arwen is being published by the government . The chairman of the Forestry Commission is calling for landowners to plant more diverse woodlands, that can better withstand climate change.

Conservationists are using horses to graze land and encourage biodiversity. They say ponies graze in a way which  creates a perfect habitat for insects, reptiles and small mammals. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust says that by using Welsh Mountain ponies on a reserve near Cirencester, they've managed to reintroduce a rare species of butterfly.

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30/11/2022 Avian flu and turkeys, forestry, conservation grazing.

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