22/04/20 - Flytipping, water usage, irrigation methods

Farming Today

• Episode: 22/04/20 - Flytipping, water usage, irrigation methods
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:13:17
• Published: 2020-04-22 07:00

With recycling centres closed due to the coronavirus lockdown, a number of local councils have reported an increase in flytipping. When waste is dumped on private land, it’s the landowner’s responsibility to pay to safely dispose of it. Right now, social media is full of pictures of heaps of rubbish dumped on country lanes and in fields - from old chairs and cupboards to wire and rubble. This week on Farming Today we’re looking at water - from keeping it clean to using it for irrigation. Half of the UK's potatoes are irrigated, and as abstraction licences for river water become more restricted, some farmers are looking for more efficient methods of watering crops. We visit a potato farm in Lincolnshire where a National trial is comparing different methods of irrigation. We find out about new Water Resource Companies that have been set up across the country to bring together farmers, industry, councils and conservationists to look at strategies for managing water in the long term. And we hear from the newest recruit to the Farming Today Audio Diaries - an arable farmer in Essex. Presented by Anna Hill Produced by Heather Simons