23/09/23 - Farming Today This Week: de-banking, rural crime and muck

The Financial Conduct Authority has published its initial review into 'de-banking' this week - finding that some businesses, including shooting and the gun trade, feel 'unfairly affected' by some banks' decisions not to provide accounts for them.' Part of the evidence the FCA considered was a survey of members by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, BASC. It showed that 41 percent of the 325 who answered, had found difficulty with their banking, and that just over half of those people had been told by the bank "off the record", that their connection with shooting and firearms was the reason why their banking had been stopped or restricted. BASC says its members have connections with shooting and firearms through legal, legitimate and viable businesses. A working group is being put together to work out how to combat the toxic blue green algae on Northern Ireland's biggest freshwater lake, Lough Neagh. It bloomed over the summer, has been linked with the deaths of dogs and birds and has closed some businesses on the lough. Pollution from farming - along with the weather and invasive species - have been blamed for the problem. A survey commissioned by the organic veg box group Riverford has revealed that nearly half the fruit and veg growers who took part, fear they could close within a year, with the majority citing supermarket behaviour as the main reason. And how to tell your manure from your slurry? We as a farmer. Presenter by Charlotte Smith Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons