23/08/25 Farming Today This Week: early apples, bioethanol industry in trouble, rise in avian flu

Farming Today

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The cider apple harvest has started already. Most apples are picked in the autumn and even varieties which ripen early aren’t usually ready yet, and the apple harvest looks likely to buck this year's trend and be good.

The Government's decision last week not to offer a rescue package to two plants producing bioethanol is a cause for worry for farmers. This week the Vivergo bioethanol plant on the Humber near Hull stopped production and started laying off staff. It had been buying around a million tonnes of wheat a year, distilling it into bioethanol which is added to petrol to reduce emissions. It also produced large quantities of cattle feed as a by-product. A separate business, Ensus on Teesside is continuing for now; it produces bioethanol and also carbon dioxide which is used in abattoirs and the food industry. The plants have been rendered economically unviable by the US trade deal, which removed tariffs from bioethanol imports from the States. We hear how the UK has been dependent on American bioethanol for some time now.

Avian flu is on the rise again. In England new rules on game birds are being introduced after warnings of a 'heightened risk' of the virus. The Government says there have been more new cases, particularly in coastal areas and places with a significant number of shoots.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

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