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Farming Today: Christmas Trees, Pig Welfare and can Britain be food self-sufficient?

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01/12/2016

Christmas Trees, Pig Welfare and can Britain be food self-sufficient?

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Christmas Trees, Pig Welfare and can Britain be food self-sufficient?

Can Britain ever be food self-sufficient?

A Christmas tree farmer prepares for the biggest weekend of his year and can Britain ever be food self-sufficient?

Britain needs to produce more food. That's according to the brand director of Sainsbury's Judith Batchelar. Adam Staines from the Biotech research council, the BBSRC tells Charlotte Smith that even though there are a few things that we cannot grow here, such as bananas and cocoa, there is more that we could do using new technology and genome technology.

It's the first of December and as the nation gears up for Christmas, Harry Parkhill visits George Overton on his farm in Lincolnshire as he begin to pack up some of the 20,000 trees he will sell this winter. It's an expanding part of his business and makes up a small part of the huge UK market for Christmas trees.

Scotland accounts for 10% of the UK pig herd and a brand new abattoir has opened in the north east of Scotland. Nancy Nicholson meets Callum Count's as he prepares to take his pigs to the abattoir at Brechin, 45 minutes from his farm. Andy McGowan, Chief Executive of the Scottish Pig Producers Group tells Nancy that the new abattoir is helping farmers look to a brighter future.

Farming Today listener Jill Deane emailed the programme to raise the issue of animal welfare on big farms and Tracy Worcester is the director of Farms Not Factories, a pressure group running a high profile campaign called Turn Your Nose Up to discuss how pigs are kept across the farms in the UK. Tracy is keen for consumers to insist on highest welfare standards when buying pork.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Martin Poyntz-Roberts.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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