Welcome | The Signpost
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Blue Tongue |
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John Holman welcomes you to Edition
41 of Farm Radio.
 
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Click on the signpost to find your way to "Chalk and Cheese" and "Levels and Moors" items.
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 The
future of the livestock industry could hang on just one factor, that
could be how seriously the threat of Blue Tongue disease is taken by the
industry itself. Geoff Pagotto hears from, Jonathan Long Farmers Weekly
Livestock editor, Peter Morris National Sheep Association Chief
Executive, Veterinary Surgeon Robert Ankcorn, auctioneer Robert Venner,
exporter Mike Adams and farmers Gary Bag, Brian Griffiths and Clifford
Williams.
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Blue Tongue - Professor Philip Mellor |
Eblex Beef Producers Workshop 1 - The Producers |
Eblex Beef Producers Workshop 2 - The Experts |
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 Guest
correspondent, Tom Levitt, went to speak to Professor Philip Mellor of
the Institute for Animal Health to find out what is the latest
scientific thinking on this potential scourge.
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 How
do beef producers see their future in the light of growing feed costs?
Geoff Pagotto investigated at an EBLEX Beef Producers workshop in
Taunton, where he met up with Richard Chamberlain from Kingston St Mary,
Julian Nelson from Boscastle, Dave and Carol Manning from Churchingford
and a milk producer from Bridgwater who was considering starting
finishing and selling his own beef on his milk round.
Contact:
www.eblex.org.uk
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 The
combination of a wet summer and cereal prices going through the roof
means that winter feeding is going to be painful for livestock
producers, Dr Phil Hadley and independent nutritionist Liz Clarke ran a
workshop in Taunton to offer help, Geoff Pagotto went along.
www.eblex.org.uk
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Masseria Il Frantoio
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Woodland Tales - Lee Heard, Bodger |
Woodland Tales - Mark Pike, Fungus Forager |
 Farm
Radio’s Margery Hookings stopped off in Puglia in southern Italy on an
epic journey to Greece in an old VW Beetle. She and her husband stopped
off at Masseria Il Frantoio (which means olive press) for lunch. The
converted farmhouse stands among 72 hectares of olive trees, carob, oak
and Mediterranean scrub just off the main coast road between Ostuni and
Fasano, in the province of Brindisi. The masseria is run by Armando
Balestrazzi and his wife Rosalba, whose cooking skills are famed far and
wide. The couple fell in love with the place in the early 1990s and
converted it into a guest house, offering bed, breakfast and a fantastic
feast. After enjoying a lovely meal, Margery is shown around the estate
by Giuseppe Baron, who works at the masseria.
Contact: www.trecolline.it
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 The
next in our “Woodland Tales”. Lee Heard is keen to join the growing
ranks of Bodgers in Dorset. His father Terry is a lifelong, respected
and established wood craftsman. But as Geoff
Pagotto found out Lee's ambitions could outstrip his father's provided
he can get a good supply
of wood. It's wood supply that seems to be holding back this once huge
rural craft.
Contact Lee via:
Terry A Heard
Dorset Coppicing Ltd
Sunnycorner
Spetisbury
Blandford
Dorset
DT11 9DL
01258 857225
or
07711823705
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 The
second item in this edition from “Woodland Tales”. Fungi Forays are steadily
getting more popular
in this country and, as Geoff Pagotto finds out, there are plenty of
delicious native fungi to
choose from as he talks to expert Mark Pike from the Dorset Fungus
Group.
Contact: www.dorsetfungusgroup.com
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