Rural plan, Dairy market rise, Farming Today calf

The government has unveiled its new rural productivity plan. However, Professor Mark Schucksmith, Director of the Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal at Newcastle University, says that while its broadly positive that the government is focussing on rural areas, the devil will be in the detail. It seems as though there might be a chink of light in the dairy markets as the fortnightly Global Dairy Trade auctions have had their first rise since early March. Chris Walkland is a dairy analyst and says that although its not a cause for celebration, it means that the market might have hit rock bottom and the only way is up.
Farming Today is following the life of Sunblest the dairy cow. On today's programme we welcome her new arrival - a calf. The fate of the calf depends on its sex, normally a male calf will be shot or sometimes sold for veal or raised for beef. Meanwhile a female calf will be reared for dairy. Sybil Ruscoe was there for the birth,.Alistair Driver from the Farmers Guardian newspaper is appealing for Farmers to tweet, email and send in information about their lives, its in an aim to lift the lid on the day to day realities of farming.
.Presented by Felicity Evans and produced by Ruth Sanderson.