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Farming Today: 16/01/23 Mass shellfish deaths; Deer count, Fertiliser

16/01/23 Mass shellfish deaths; Deer count, Fertiliser

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 16/01/23 Mass shellfish deaths; Deer count, Fertiliser

Mass shellfish deaths, hi-tech helps deer count and fertilisers.

Government chief scientific adviser drafted in to find out what's caused mass shellfish deaths on north east coast. Tech firm help with Scottish deer count. Fertiliser overview.

The row over what's caused the deaths of large numbers of crabs and lobsters on England's North East coast rumbles on. On one side are the region’s fishing fleets and families – on the other are supporters of multi-million pound work to redevelop the South Bank of the River Tees – the site of Teesside’s Freeport. The government’s chief scientific advisor has been drafted in to try to get to the bottom of it.

Last year the Scottish Government accepted a string of recommendations focused on reducing the environmental damage caused by deer. But a major stumbling block is counting just how many deer there are in a given area. Now artificial intelligence is coming to the rescue.

Fertiliser prices have been a hot topic for farmers this past 12 months. Prices went stratospheric - impacted by the rising price of gas and the war in Ukraine. For farmers it meant increases of 400 per cent at one point; the closure of fertiliser plants in the UK and across Europe; and a renewed interest in more natural fertilisers, like animal muck.  All this week we're going to look at fertilisers, in all their forms starting with an interview with the head of fertilisers at the Agricultural Industries Confederation.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney

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16/01/23 Mass shellfish deaths; Deer count, Fertiliser

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