Farming Today

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Farming Today: 13/01/23 Floods; Trucks to Ukraine; Muck spreaders.

13/01/23 Floods; Trucks to Ukraine; Muck spreaders.

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 13/01/23 Floods; Trucks to Ukraine; Muck spreaders.

Flooded farmers in Somerset. Farm trucks to Ukraine. Hi-tech muck spreading.

Somerset Levels flooded, but farmers say they're better protected than in the great flood of 2014.
Ukraine Equipment sends ex-farm trucks to front line.
Hi-tech muck spreaders.

Farmland on the Somerset Levels is flooded, but farmers say they feel everyone's better prepared than in 2014 when floods wreaked devastation on homes and businesses. They say the Environment Agency has been more pro-active installing extra pumps, rivers are not so silted and sluice gates are in operation. However, they say it will be vital to pump water off the farmland where it's collected, in case the rain continues. Also they say farmers whose fields are used as temporary reservoirs, should be reimbursed for that. 

Trucks are perhaps the most useful bit of kit on a farm - from hauling a few bales to the school run, and now they're being put to use in Ukraine. Old four-by-fours, many from farms, are being driven out to the war zone and adapted for use in fighting the Russians. We spoke to Freddie from Ukraine Equipment,  as he delivered a pick-up to the Donetz region and also to Yarislav, an officer in the Ukraine army. 

All week on Farming Today we've been talking about machinery. Paul Joseph is a farmer and contractor, who's invested in kit worth millions over the years, and in 10 fulltime staff to use it. They work on 70 farms around Wiltshire and do everything from cutting silage to harvesting. But this time of year - when the weather permits -  it's muck spreading. It's pumped from lagoons and applied to crops - and as fertiliser prices soar, using hi-tech machines to apply it precisely is more important than ever. 

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer - Rebecca Rooney

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13/01/23 Floods; Trucks to Ukraine; Muck spreaders.

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