17/07/19: Rural domestic abuse, bee disease, insurance for crops, adders

Farming Today

• Episode: 17/07/19: Rural domestic abuse, bee disease, insurance for crops, adders
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:13:37
• Published: 2019-07-17 07:00

A report published this morning reveals what it describes as 'the hidden scandal of domestic abuse in rural areas.' The research by the National Rural Crime Network showed that isolation is used as a weapon by abusers; close-knit rural communities facilitate abuse; and the policing response is largely inadequate. The government is urging all beekeepers to register for a national database, to help identify and combat the spread of disease. A new approach to insuring crops against poor harvests due to weather events, is being launched. The system works by looking at the average yield of a crop in a region over several years and if bad weather results in a significant drop in yield, farmers can then claim from the insurance. We're out into the woods in search of one of the UK's fast-disappearing species, the adder. A report published earlier this year by Reading University predicted that the adder could become extinct in the UK within twenty years. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.