18/12/19 New study on bovine TB, Digital platform for farm data, Turkey farm

Farming Today

• Episode: 18/12/19 New study on bovine TB, Digital platform for farm data, Turkey farm
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:14:44
• Published: 2019-12-17 18:28

The government has no immediate plans to change its advice for farmers on bovine TB following the publication of a report which shows that cattle are most likely to be infected by other cattle, but that they are ten times more likely to get the disease from badgers than badgers are to get it from them. We hear from Professor Rosie Woodroffe, of the Zoological Society of London, and Stuart Roberts, vice-president of the National Farmers' Union. All this week we’re looking at big data and how the digital revolution could transform British agriculture. The challenge for the farming industry is not necessarily a lack of data – farms are full of information – but it’s often very fragmented and stored on different systems which don’t ‘talk’ to each other. A digital platform called ‘The Map of Ag’ is enabling farmers to store their data in one place, everything from crop yields and compliance to animal health and welfare reporting. Chris Rumming runs a mixed farm in Wiltshire with beef and sheep, with what started off as a few turkeys. He now has 400 free-range turkeys this year. He's using his on-farm turkey butchery and his Christmas customer database to boost sales of the beef and lamb. Presented By Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.