麻豆社

The number of bluetongue cases since the first of July in the UK has now topped a thousand. That鈥檚 nearly three times the number of positive cases for the whole of the previous year to that date. How are farmers feeling about the UK鈥檚 largest ever outbreak of this livestock disease?

There have been fears that livestock movement restrictions imposed to try to halt the spread of the outbreak could disrupt this autumn鈥檚 big sheep sales, which play a critical role in the shepherding year. One of UK鈥檚 biggest is Kelso Ram Sales took place this week in the Scottish Borders.

The National Sheep Association estimates that every year around 200 farmers are affected by sheep rustling. We hear from a couple in Cumbria who realised they鈥檇 become victims of sheep rustlers with both rams and ewes missing from one of the fields they rent next to the busy A66.

As farmers decide how they're going to manage next year's crops, the cost of fertiliser and fuel will be in the mix, but what if you could farm without fertiliser or diesel? We speak to a Cornish farmer who's putting this into practice on his farm and we visit a farmer who's set up a biomethane plant and is growing maize to produce energy.

Farming without fossil fuels was on the agenda at a gathering of environmentalists this week. The Wild Summit in Bristol brought together more than 1000 people - campaigners, policy makers, scientists and farmers.

Presenter = Caz Graham
Producer = Rebecca Rooney