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Farming Today: 17/01/2024 Beavers in Cairngorms, robotic milking parlours

17/01/2024 Beavers in Cairngorms, robotic milking parlours

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 17/01/2024 Beavers in Cairngorms, robotic milking parlours

The reintroduction of beavers to the Cairngorms in Scotland.

A number of farmers have demonstrated against beavers being reintroduced into the Cairngorms National Park.

Farmers attending a' forum' on Monday night, to discuss land management issues in the Cairngorms National Park, ended up holding a demonstration about beaver re-introduction...because the farmers feel they aren't being listened to.

The Scottish government has been allowing the reintroduction and translocation of beavers into new catchments for several years. The government's nature agency, NatureScot identified The Cairngorms National Park as a good habitat, so the Authority made the application. 

They also held a consultation between April and October last year, making site visits, meeting farmers and communicating with the public. The Park Authority say they made concessions to farmers including agreeing to clear up problems caused by beavers. Approval for beaver introductions was granted by NatureScot and several pairs were introduced at the end last year.
We speak to the Cairngorms National Park Authority, and local livestock farmer Robert MacDonald.


The LAMMA agricultural machinery show starts today in Birmingham  - so all this week we're looking at hardware helping hands... 
With the price and availability of labour being a constant issue for farmers, automation is often touted as the solution. 
In the dairy industry robot milking parlours have been around for some time...and some farmers rely on them... but are they really the future for everyone?
Stuart Oates has been to meet AJ and Polly Williams who milk 110 organic cows over 330 acres on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall  - they put in their two robots 5 years ago...

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