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Farming Today: Organic milk prices, salad crops, UK vineyards

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Organic milk prices, salad crops, UK vineyards

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Organic milk prices, salad crops, UK vineyards

The impact of Brexit uncertainty on organic milk prices.

The UK's biggest organic milk co-op says exports have already been hit by Brexit uncertainty.

British organic Dairy farmers say they're losing business because of the uncertainty over Brexit. Some EU buyers have stopped importing British milk because it's likely to temporarily lose its organic certification once we leave, and since it's not clear when that will be they've halted imports now. OMSCO, the Organic Milk Producers Cooperative cut the price it pays for milk earlier this year, and says they expect disruption to continue for several years. We meet the farmers affected.

The UK salad industry is worth about £1.8 billion a year - from leaves, to cucumber to tomatoes. British growers produce pretty much all we eat from May to September, but to do that they need the right weather, the right amount of water and people to plant, pick and pack. We hear how mechanisation could be the future.

And the number of vineyards in the UK is growing rapidly - a million new vines were planted last year and another 2 million are predicted to go in this year. With weeks of hot weather, last year was the best ever for UK wine production according to a report from the industry body Wine GB - which also says that sales of UK wine have doubled. We visit a newly planted vineyard.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons

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