Deforestation in England, Possible sprout shortage, Women in NFUS, Farming in high hills

Farming Today

• Episode: Deforestation in England, Possible sprout shortage, Women in NFUS, Farming in high hills
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:13:14
• Published: 2016-12-07 01:00

The Woodland Trust fears that England is slipping towards becoming deforested and a moth is attacking Brussel Sprout crops just weeks before the vegetable's big day! Also today. Member of the Scottish Parliament, Kate Forbes has called for female candidates to step forward for nomination to high up posts in the National Farmers Union for Scotland. The closing date for nominations is Monday 12th December and so there is still time for women farmers to enter the contest. There are fears that we could be faced with a Brussel sprout shortage as over the summer a small moth attacked crops in the fields of Lincolnshire. The majority of brussel sprouts are grown in Lincolnshire and there are fears that supermarkets may have tom import extra sprouts to the UK to make up for the shortfall. All this week we're looking at how the weather affects farmers and agriculture and today Nancy Nicholson meets Paulo Berardelli. Paulo farms in the Scottish Highlands and Nancy discovers how Paulo copes with the wide range of weather conditions that he has to face in the mountains, from high amounts of rainfall to plenty of snow. And there are fears that England maybe slipping towards deforestation. The Woodland Trust and Confor, the trade association for the UK forestry industry, fear that development is leading to large amounts of woodland being felled at a faster rate than it is being planted. Currently only 7 hundred hectares a year are being planted, well below the target of around 5 thousand hectares. Forest cover in the UK is 13%, whilst in England it's 10% - across Europe the average figure is 38%. Anna Hill talks to Austin Brady from the Woodland Trust to find out what can be done. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Martin Poyntz-Roberts.