Farming Today

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Farming Today: 15/03/23 Rural poverty; biodiversity credits; tree disease

15/03/23 Rural poverty; biodiversity credits; tree disease

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 15/03/23 Rural poverty; biodiversity credits; tree disease

Rural poverty, farmers selling bio-diversity credits, and disease destroying larch trees.

Authors say the needs of the poor in rural areas are being ignored. Firms paying bio-diversity credits to farmers.
Tens of thousands of larch trees felled because of disease.

Farmers and countryside communities are asking for more support in the budget, and a new book by academics specialising in rural affairs says "The needs of the poorest and most vulnerable people in rural areas, are ignored by the Government in a way that would not be acceptable in urban centres". The group of academics from Newcastle University, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and Inverness Impact-Hub, have written a new book called Rural Poverty Today. For instance, it shows that those living in rural areas face energy costs 15-30 per cent higher than those in towns. We speak to one of the authors, Professor Mark Shucksmith from Newcastle University

Improving bio-diversity and sequestering carbon, and getting paid for it. That's an increasingly attractive proposition for farmers. But a growing number of them aren't applying for government money via Defra - public money for public goods. They're teaming up with the private sector. Brewood Park Farm near Wolverhampton is part of a group called "The Green Collective" - half a dozen farms are working with a local company called YourPact to get investment from businesses in the Midlands. Their money's helping to improve habitats for birds, improve the soil and plant cover crops.

Tens of thousands of trees in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire are being removed because of the tree disease Phytophthora ramorum and re-planting schemes are getting underway. Larch, which are widely grown for the timber market, are particularly susceptible to the disease, which has been in the UK for nearly 15 years. It can be spread on plant material, or in waterways and through the air.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney

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15/03/23 Rural poverty; biodiversity credits; tree disease

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