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05/10/24 Farming Today This Week: 'Poultry police', dairy recruitment crisis, imported carrots, deer.

IT problems with the new poultry register.

Poultry keepers say they can't access government websites to register their birds. From 1st October anyone who keeps birds has to register with the Animal and Plant Health Agency, to help with monitoring bird flu outbreaks, even those with just one or two chickens. Failure to comply could mean a fine of 拢2,500. However bird owners who've tried to register say the system is not working. Defra says it's had a high number of applications and is working at pace to process them.

Dairy farmers are finding it a 'real struggle' to recruit new staff, according to industry experts, The farmer-owned dairy coop Arla spoke to nearly 500 UK dairy farmers and just under 90% of them said they had advertised jobs and had few or no applicants at all. So what鈥檚 holding young people back from a life working with dairy cows in a career that can also involve robotics, veterinary science and data analysis to mention just a few of the skills involved in modern milk production?

The UK is 97% self-sufficient in carrots, according to the British Carrot Association, but poor weather over the last year has meant supermarket shelves stocked with bags of carrots imported from China, Israel and other countries. Is that a trend that鈥檚 likely to continue?

We鈥檝e been talking about deer all this week, their impact on the environment and how to manage their growing population.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

25 minutes

Broadcast

  • Sat 5 Oct 2024 06:30

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