28/09/10 - On-farm safety, farm charity survival, seaweed farming

In recent weeks five people have lost their lives in accidents on British farms: two members of the public and three people working. It brings the total of on-farm deaths since the start of April to 26, versus a total of 21 deaths for the whole of last year. Charlotte Smith talks to Stephanie Berkeley, manager of the Farm Safety Foundation, about what’s going wrong. Coronavirus restrictions have left a big hole in the finances of many agricultural organisations - not least charities. Jamie's Farm helps vulnerable young people, with five farms offering visits and longer stays across England and Wales. This year 2,000 children were due to visit, but lockdown put a stop to that. Rebecca Rooney's been to the charity's headquarters in Box, near Bath, to find out how things are going. And Charlotte kicks of a week-long focus on seaweeds, speaking to Professor Michele Stanley from the Scottish Association for Marine Science about the current scale and future scope of commercial seaweed farming in the UK. Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Lucy Taylor.