麻豆社

It was fifty years ago that the Cross family in North west Norfolk faced the challenge of farming in a drought. In 1976 John Cross鈥檚 father solved the problem of feeding 300 cattle on light land by growing the legume lucerne, and grazing on a rotational basis, so the crop grew as it was needed. Anna Hill hears how half a century later, in this summer鈥檚 drought, his son David, is using similar techniques. He鈥檚 grazing cattle and sheep on a mixture of herbal leys, grasses and legumes in an alley-way system with fixed watering points, to try to beat the lack of rain.
It鈥檚 been a tough few years, switching from arable and sheep to livestock alone, especially in this part of the country where most of David鈥檚 farming neighbours are arable. But David hasn鈥檛 sunk all his eggs in one basket. The animals and the grazing mix he is using is putting goodness back into the soil, so that if he needs to get back into growing crops, he can.
John and David speak with warmth about this undulating part of Norfolk ...it鈥檚 somewhere John looks forward to coming back to, after his work in London with policy-makers as chair of the Bovine TB Partnership. He tells Anna that there is a clear commitment now to bring in vaccinations against the disease, hoping to bring TB-free status to England by 2038.

Presented and Produced by Anna Hill