Farming Today This Week 05/09/26 Bluetongue; food security; data centres; river DNA testing; corncrakes; dung beetle vet.

Available for 29 days

As the UK experiences its worst ever outbreak of the livestock disease bluetongue, we find out how government vets and scientists are coping as they deal with thousands of cases. The trade union which represents them says morale is low and the workload is mountainous. They say more long term strategic planning is needed and better pay to address staff shortages. How well prepared are we for a major threat to our food security? Not quite well enough, according to the National Audit Office report on resilience in England’s food supply chain. Plans for data centres on farmland in Scotland. Finding out exactly what species are in a river can be challenging, but environmental DNA sampling is a relatively new tool which can help. It can detect the presence of rare or invasive species by analysing genetic material in water. The farm vet with a passion for dung beetles. She's teaching livestock farmers how to use fewer medicines to help protect the ecosystems and insects on their land. There are only around eleven hundred calling male corncrakes in the UK, but that number may be about to grow. Presenter = Anna Hill Producer = Rebecca Rooney