Last year the pig industry faced a winter like no other. A lack of abattoir workers, caused by a perfect storm of the pandemic and Brexit, created a backlog of between 100,000 – 120,000 pigs on farms across Britain. With farmers rapidly running out of space to keep their overweight livestock, many had no option but to cull their pigs, meaning they wouldn’t enter the food chain.

Over four months we follow two sisters – Kate and Vicky - from a second generation farming family in East Yorkshire, as they battle their way through the winter. The sisters' farm is running out of room, with 25% of their pigs routinely not being taken to the processor, causing a massive backlog of 5,000 pigs and huge emotional and financial pressure on the sisters.

Kate and Vicky show us behind the scenes of the farm, detailing how great the life of a farmer can be and how the crisis has come about. We meet their wider family and employees as they struggle through the winter doing everything they can to avoid a cull, fighting for their livestock and their livelihoods in an unprecedented situation. Show less