12/12/24 Farmer protests, Efra inquiry into the future of farming, TB and dairy farmers.

The chancellor has 'refused to engage' over concerns about the proposed change to inheritance tax on farms - so says the president of the National Farmers Union who was appearing before MPs, just as hundreds of farmers drove their tractors into London to protest about the tax.

Farmers gathered in central London and in towns and cities across the country in another protest about changes announced in the autumn budget. The House of Commons Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee opened an inquiry to discuss inheritance tax as part of a wider look at the future of farming.

Our topic this week is dairy farming and today we're looking at a disease which can decimate a dairy herd, TB. In almost 150 years of farming at Strickley, near Kendal, in Cumbria, the Robinson family’s pedigree herd of organic dairy shorthorns has remained TB free. Until last October, that is, when a routine TB test returned the worst possible results. We hear how three generations of one farming family have dealt with their cattle’s TB diagnosis and its aftermath.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney