Farming Today

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Farming Today: 28/03/23 Environmental reporting; listeria outbreak; agriplastic pollution; recycling farm plastics.

28/03/23 Environmental reporting; listeria outbreak; agriplastic pollution; recycling farm plastics.

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 28/03/23 Environmental reporting; listeria outbreak; agriplastic pollution; recycling farm plastics.

Environmental reporting; listeria; agricultural plastic pollution; recycling farm plastic.

Defra fails to file reports on environmental laws.
Listeria outbreak.
Plastic pollution from agriculture.
Recycling farm plastic to produce products like fence posts.

DEFRA has failed to file dozens of reports on environmental legislation, which it is legally bound to do. The reports are essential because they show the public and campaign groups how effective laws are at achieving their goals. The findings are published in a report by the Office for Environmental Protection, or OEP, which was set up to monitor how well environmental regulations are working and whether government departments are implementing them properly.

The Food Standards Agency has confirmed that one person has died following an outbreak of listeria.  It is warning people not to eat any Baronet soft cheese products after high levels of listeria monocytogenes were found, although the death has not been specifically linked to this cheese.  The Old Cheese Room which produces Baronet told us in a statement that they have now changed their testing regime, and none of their other cheeses has been affected. 

A new report suggests supermarkets and the government need to do more to reduce the environmental impact of agriplastics. That's things like polytunnel plastic, plastic mulch - the sheeting that's put on the fields to keep the soil warm - irrigation pipes, fertiliser bags and even the microplastics present in fertiliser pellets and some composts. The Environmental Investigation Agency report says government policy around the production and disposal of agriplastics is lacking. 

As we continue our week-long look at farm waste, we visit one firm in South Wales which is turning waste farm plastic into products. They collect and clean materials like wrapping for silage or feed packaging, it's then turned into pellets which can be used to make things like fence posts.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney

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28/03/23 Environmental reporting; listeria outbreak; agriplastic pollution; recycling farm plastics.

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