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Home > Farming Today > Flooding, alternatives to farrowing crates, crops through the 'eyes' of AI


	Podcast:		Farming Today
	Episode:		Flooding, alternatives to farrowing crates, crops through the 'eyes' of AI
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:13:54
	Publish Date:		2026-02-10 06:00:00
	Description:		The Country Land and Business Association, CLA, says winter flooding is putting pressure on farm finances, coming after summer drought and during a period of poor arable and milk prices. The CLA's Deputy President, Joe Evans, describes driving past 'hundreds of acres' of 'prime arable land' under water on the outskirts of Worcester. He tells Anna Hill of instances where arable farmers in Somerset have stopped growing crops because of repeated flooding. He believes that farmers could be more resilient, and help protect nearby communities, if they were given the right policy and regulatory support. The Government has said it plans to ban sow farrowing crates within four years under proposals in the new Animal Welfare Bill. These narrow pens are used in indoor pig units, and they confine sows during birth and suckling, for around a month. Their purpose is to prevent sows killing piglets by accidentally lying on them. We visit a farm in East Yorkshire which has been trialling alternative systems for 15 years. This week we're exploring how artificial intelligence, AI, could help farmers improve efficiency, and reduce the environment footprint of producing food. Today, a project combining AI with a camera which 'sees' things in a different way to the human eye, to understand how plants are behaving. It could eventually help farmers use nitrogen fertiliser much more precisely. Presenter: Anna Hill Producer: Sarah Swadling
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