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Farming Today: 12/08/19 Food self-sufficiency, hemp research, harvest 2019

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12/08/19 Food self-sufficiency, hemp research, harvest 2019

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 12/08/19 Food self-sufficiency, hemp research, harvest 2019

Today, a call from farmers for the government to back home-grown food.

Today, a call from farmers for the government to back home-grown food. And research is being carried out to see if hemp can be used in house building.

The National Farmers' Union is urging the government to do more to maintain our self-sufficiency level in food production.  It currently stands at 61% and Minette Batters, president of the NFU, says that can't be allowed to drop.
Hemp is the agricultural version of cannabis and it's one of the world's oldest food and fabric crops.  Research in Leicestershire is being carried out to see if it can be used in house building and high-tech material graphene.
All this week we'll be bringing you harvest reports from around the UK. Today we hear from independent agronomist Peter Cowlrick and his assessment of harvest 2019 so far.

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12/08/19 Food self-sufficiency, hemp research, harvest 2019

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