25/01/2012

BBC TV's Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden says UK farmers are missing a trick by not better promoting humanely produced Rose Veal. She says consumers still have an out-dated image of animals living in crates on concrete floors. The practice has been outlawed in the UK for years. She tells Anna Hill, the veal market presents a limited but sound business opportunity for farmers.

An animal disease expert says conditions like African Horse Sickness, Blue Tongue and West Nile Virus could present a threat to humans or livestock in the UK in the future. Professor Peter Mertens from the Institute for Animal Health discusses the possibility of the viruses spreading to our shores following the outbreak of a previously unknown animal disease called Schmallenberg on four UK farms.

Also in the programme, new born calves are being allowed straight out to the fields thanks to the milder winter weather. Emma Weatherill is on the farm in Shropshire, whilst Anna Hill is looking at how farmers work with ecologists to help protect the rare wildlife in the Norfolk Broads.

This programme is presented by Anna Hill and produced in Birmingham by Angela Frain.