10/07/21 Farming Today This Week: birds, pigs, cages, predators and Thomas Hardy

From turtle dove to stone curlews, many species of farmland birds are in long term decline, hit largely by changes in the way we farm. But some are thriving and there are hopes that the new public money for public goods payments to farmers can build on those successes. We hear calls for predators, like foxes and crows, to be controlled to help protect ground nesting birds.
The European Union has pledged to phase out cages for agricultural animals and birds. It follows the European Parliament’s vote to ban cages, which in turn followed a long running campaign and petition signed by 1.4 million people. The Government here is currently ‘examining the evidence’ around the issue - so where will this leave the UK’s claim to have the highest animal welfare standards?
And we answer a question about Thomas Hardy and sheep bloat.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.