Preparedness for animal disease, bird flu housing order, seeds, oat genome.

Description

As the number of bird flu cases across the country rises, DEFRA has announced bird keepers across England must house all poultry and captive birds if they keep more than 50 birds. Avian influenza is just one of the animal disease threats raised in a new report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. It says the government would not be ready for a serious national disease outbreak like BSE or foot and mouth because resources have been focused on tackling ongoing outbreaks of avian influenza and bluetongue. All week we're taking a closer look at the start of the farming process; seeds. Most farmers buy seeds of some kind whether it's growing a crop for us to eat, or grass seed for pasture, or wildflower mixes for pollinators. However growing crops to produce the seeds that farmers plant, is just as important. We visit a farmer in South Wales who's diversified and now supplies other farmers with wildflower and grass seed mixes. Plant scientists have mapped the genome of oats. Academics at the University of Aberystwyth say it will help plant breeders develop varieties better suited to cope with disease and climate change.

Presenter = Anna Hill

Producer = Rebecca Rooney