01/08/2024: Rural crime; Anaerobic digestion; Dairy farms

The latest figures out today from the insurers NFU Mutual put the cost of rural crime at just under 53 million pounds last year - up from 50 million in 2022. The renewable energy options open to farmers are various, and the one that would seem to be tailor made for agriculture is anaerobic digestion - or AD.This is the process where silage and slurry are processed in a sealed tank to produce gas that is then used as a fuel to power the farm and possibly put energy back into the grid.And according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board - AHDB - 440 farmers got out of dairy between April 2023 and this April.However the total number of dairy cows is about the same - suggesting that the trend towards bigger farms continues - there are now 7,130 dairy farms in England, Scotland and Wales. Presented by Charlotte SmithProduced by Alun Beach