21/11/19 Getting out of beef and into dairy, alternative mulches, farm recycling, rural transport

A farmer in Northern Ireland is selling off his beef cattle to set up a dairy herd instead. Ian Smith and his son from County Down believe the margins will be better in dairy and say it's getting increasingly difficult to make money from beef.

Farmers and scientists are developing alternatives to plastic sheeting used to control weeds. Coventry University and the Innovative Farmers group are testing out alternative mulches in field trials.

A new scheme wants more farmers to recycle their waste plastic. The UK Farm Plastic Responsibility Scheme wants collectors and recycling companies to join forces to improve recycling facilities and develop new technologies. Mark Webb who's behind the scheme says collecting the plastic isn't the problem, it's the reprocessing, as there aren't enough plants that can recycle it.

Villagers in rural Warwickshire have set up a green community transport scheme using electric cars. The Harbury e-wheels scheme transports people in a couple of electric cars. The village now hopes to set up a wind turbine to charge them.