Forests and health, flea beetle infestation, European elections

Farming Today

• Episode: Forests and health, flea beetle infestation, European elections
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:11:30
• Published: 2019-05-13 07:00

Research out today confirms that walking in forests is good for you. For two years European health and wellbeing experts at Forest Europe have been reviewing evidence on the benefits of spending time in the woods, and have come to the conclusion that two or three visits per week can dramatically improve mental health. Alex Smalley a PhD student at the University of Exeter is involved with the BBC Forest 404 podcast and researches into the effects of real and virtual experiences of nature. He explains to Charlotte why city living can damage your health. This year farmers in the west of England say their crop has been devastated by an outbreak of an insect that has appeared in this part of the UK for the first time. The flea beetle destroys oilseed rape, we have a report. All this week Farming Today looks ahead to the European Elections - agriculture is perhaps the most Europe facing industry, not just links with the EU market but also the £3bn worth of subsidy and environmental payments from the Common Agriculture Policy - Allan Buckwell, Emeritus Professor of economics at Imperial College London, explains that policy has also shaped British farming. Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Alun Beach.