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Farming Today: 10/02/23 - NFU Scotland conference, Peat, Right to roam

10/02/23 - NFU Scotland conference, Peat, Right to roam

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 10/02/23 - NFU Scotland conference, Peat, Right to roam

Scottish NFU conference, peat extraction in Somerset, and right to roam in Scotland.

The Scottish NFU president demands details of the new payment scheme for farmers; peat extraction in Somerset; and the farming family dealing with the right to roam on their land.

Scottish farmers say they need to know details of plans for direct payments - and fast. The National Farmers Union Scotland is having its annual conference and its president, Martin Kennedy, says his members need details of the new scheme which will replace CAP - and soon, or it will have a serious impact on food producers, processors and the whole Scottish economy. He says at the moment farmers still don't know how it will work, or what the budget will be.

Horticultural peat will be banned next year, but peat is still being extracted from the largest remaining wetland in England - the Somerset Levels. Peat has been taken from the area for burning and for use as compost for over 2000 years – but the Government has now stopped granting licences for peat extraction in England as it's valuable for carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Extraction on the Levels will end when the current licences expire, so the company removing small amounts of peat from the Levels near Glastonbury is re-thinking the future.

The right to roam is controversial topic, the Labour party says if it wins the election it will introduce the right in England. In Scotland there is a right to roam and wild camp. Richard Baynes visits a Scottish farming family which relies on tourism. The Duncan family farm beef cattle and sheep on three farms and one of them is on the edge of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National park. The family have two glamping pods, but they say some tourists can be problematic.

Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Rebecca Rooney

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