From the archive: The knackerman: the toughest job in British farming

The Audio Long Read

The Guardian

Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 12 February 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

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Summary

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: Between accidents, disease and bad weather, farm animals are prey to so many disasters that dedicated professionals are called out to dispose of the casualties. It’s a grim task, and one that’s only getting more difficult. By Bella Bathurst. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

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0:00.0	This is The Guardian.
0:09.4	As you're listening to me, Daisy, Apple's iPhone disassembly robot, is dismantling an iPhone
0:15.0	into lots of recyclable parts.
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0:21.6	Thanks Daisy. There's more to iPhone.
0:29.5	The audio long read is supported by EDF, Britain's biggest generator of zero carbon electricity.
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1:20.0	£10. Ready to save cash and carbon? Remember, changes in our power. To find out how EDF are helping their customers save cash and carbon,
1:31.4	visit edfenergy.com.
1:38.3	The Guardian Archive Longread Hi, I'm Bella Bathurst. I'm Bella Bathurst. I'm a writer and photojournalist, and I'm the author of the Nakaman.
1:59.5	If I specialize in any kind of writing, then it's probably
2:02.8	in collective biographies. This long read is an excerpt from a book I wrote,
2:08.5	fieldwork, which was published by profile in 2021. My aim was to write not about agricultural policy,
2:16.1	the way that we farm, but about the people who do it
2:19.2	and to try and understand what makes farming so different to every other profession.
2:24.6	So I started with a chapter on what's officially known as Fallen Stock Collection, or
	...

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