Available online
Description
The programme examines the efficiency of British farming in the context of the energy crisis, world food shortages and government policies.
The programme examines the efficiency of British farming in the context of the energy crisis, world food shortages and government policies.
| Module code and title: | T262, Man-made futures: design and technology |
|---|---|
| Item code: | T262; 05 |
| First transmission date: | 04-05-1975 |
| Published: | 1975 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:29 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | John Richmond |
| Contributors: | Tom Fox; Alan Harper |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Animal feeding; Crop choice; Farm management; Fertilizers; Grain markets; Maize cultivation; Oil dependence; Subsidies; Western meat consumption; Zero grazing system |
| Footage description: | Film shots of Kirby Farm, Warwickshire. Commentary introduces the programme with a brief statement on the efficiency of British farming. The use of maize grown on Kirby Farm as feedstuff for its cattle is examined. Zero grazing technique is explained. Commentary by the farmer, Tom Fox. Film shots of the various activities on the farm are shown throughout the commentary. Various inputs and outputs of the farm are discussed over film shots of farm activities. Tom Fox then discusses the rise in cost of fertilizers over the past year. Tom Fox and narrator discuss the need for artificial fertilizer on intensive farms and the effect of a shortage of these on food output. More film shots of the farm. The business side of growing and selling wheat is discussed by Tom Fox and Alan Harper. The effects of futures trading and the major world grain markets are considered. Film shot of Tom Fox talking to his local grain merchant on the telephone and of the Baltic Exchange at work. Film shots of a cattle auction and of cattle feeding in pens and in fields. Narrator and Tom Fox examine some of the problems of raising beef on British farms particularly the issue of government intervention through subsidies. Erica Wheeler discusses the relative nutritional potentials for meat and arable crops. The nutritional value of a typical English meal is contrasted with that of an Indian meal. Film shots of steak and curry meals being served in a restaurant. Erica Wheeler, Tom Fox and the narrator discuss the possibility of a shift from meat to arable production. A comparison is made of the protein calorie and iron content of each and the number of people who could be fed by a farm like Kirby Farm under each system. Charts show the data. Narrator and Tom Fox sum up over shots of a maize cutter at work, the Baltic Exchange and a restaurant. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/71704 |
| Production number: | 00525_5157 |
| Videofinder number: | 2676 |
| Available to public: | no |
