29/04/22 - import checks, biosolids and George Eustice on agroforestry and American animal welfare

The government has announced a delay to import checks on goods coming into the UK from the EU; these checks were due to come in from July, having been delayed three times already. Last year a committee of MPs concluded that the lack of checks has undermined the competitiveness of British seafood and meat businesses in their home market and that there are concerns that this could have ‘serious implications for the spread of disease.

The organic campaign group The Soil Association says trees are part of the answer to achieving the UK’s nature and net zero targets while also growing enough food. It suggests that growing trees as part of a farming system - alongside crops and livestock, brings many benefits - and held a conference on this topic, this week. DEFRA Secretary George Eustice spoke at the conference about agroforestry and whether he is concerned that companies might plant trees as a means of offsetting their carbon emissions. He had also just come back from America where he'd been discussing the differences between animal welfare standards in the UK and the US.

And this week on Farming Today we're looking at water. We hear how biosolids - otherwise known as human sewage turned into fertiliser - can be treated to create an alternative to increasingly expensive manufactured fertilisers.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced for BBC Audio by Caitlin Hobbs