Environmental permit fee increases, firewood imports, farm resilience programme

Farming Today

• Episode: Environmental permit fee increases, firewood imports, farm resilience programme
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:13:41
• Published: 2018-01-30 07:00

The cost of the permits that farmers have to apply for in order to carry out work on or near a main river are set to rise by nearly 400 per cent. The Environment Agency sets these charges to ensure that the work doesn't cause a risk of flooding. But critics say the increased rise could bring an end to flood prevention work. A UK forestry lobby organisation is claiming that more than a quarter of firewood consignments imported to the UK fail to meet the standards which they should pass, to stop spreading tree diseases. But the Forestry Commission disputes these findings and say no pests were found. In 2016, Prince Charles launched the Prince's Farm Resilience Programme. It's a free support scheme that helps improve farmers' confidence, management skills and resilience. Howard Shannon visited the south coast, to meet a farmer who joined the programme last year. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.