Chancellor's announcement about future farm subsidies, African farmers and a lady molecatcher.
Felicity Evans examines the chancellor's announcement about future farm subsidies, looks at African farming and meets a lady mole catcher.
The government ends post Brexit uncertainty by guaranteeing subsidies for food production until 2020, but leaves a question mark over environment subsidies.
This week we'll be looking at farming in Africa and will be following a group of Nuffield Farming Scholars. Nuffield is a scheme which sponsors individuals from the farming world to travel and study food production globally. The idea is their findings will benefit their businesses, and the wider industry, back home. This installment comes from South Africa, where the Scholars meet an inspirational group of 'future farmers'.
Lastly we hear from a traditional mole catcher. There are 33 million moles in Britain and that number is rising. In the past they bred only once a year, in March. But as the climate changes, moles have begun breeding in September as well. Poisoning moles with Strychnine has been illegal for a decade. And last year legislation was brought in requiring a certificate of competence to use chemical alternatives, giving more work to traditional mole catchers.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside. Presented by Felicity Evans and produced by Emily Hughes.
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Script:
Good morning. 聽A pilgrimage is a journey with a spiritual purpose and a particular destination. The pilgrims in Chaucer鈥檚 Canterbury Tales, for example, were on their way to the shrine of Saint Thomas 脿 Becket at Canterbury. While other writers, notably John Bunyan, saw the whole of life as a pilgrimage, leading through all kinds of difficulties and challenges as a preparation for eternity. Even today enthusiastic Welsh rugby supporters during international matches still borrow the words of the eighteenth century hymn-writer Pantycelyn, lustily declaring themselves to be 鈥榩ilgrims through this barren land鈥�.
These days tourists tend to outnumber pilgrims among those who find their way to ancient spiritual centres. I spend several weeks each year as Canon-in-Residence at St Davids Cathedral in Pembrokeshire. It often features in lists of the holiest sites in Britain. Many visitors may just be escaping from the rain outside, or ticking off an item on a bucket list of places to see before they die. Some, however, deliberately come for a spiritual reason. While others, caught up in the atmosphere of somewhere sanctified by prayer, discover things about God and themselves that they hadn鈥檛 been conscious of before. Thus the sacred place can become a significant stage on our lifelong spiritual pilgrimage.
Lord Jesus, be our guide and our companion as we journey through this life. Lead us to places of spiritual refreshment where we can find inner healing and renewed purpose. In moments of listlessness or disillusion surprise us with a fresh revelation of your loving-kindness, so that, strengthened by your Spirit, we can rededicate our lives to the service of those around us. Amen.
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- Mon 15 Aug 2016 05:45大象传媒 Radio 4
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Farming Today
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