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Farming Today: 27/05/21 - New international trade deals, shopping local and meat processing staff

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27/05/21 - New international trade deals, shopping local and meat processing staff

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 27/05/21 - New international trade deals, shopping local and meat processing staff

The government has launched consultations on new trade deals with Canada and Mexico.

As the government launches consultations on new trade deals with Canada and Mexico, Charlotte Smith grills Minister for International Trade, Ranil Jayawardena.

The Government has launched consultations on two more trade deals with Canada and Mexico. Both countries are in the world’s top 10 for agricultural exports and with the furore over a deal with Australia ongoing, Ministers may well be bracing themselves before they open the responses. Charlotte Smith asks Ranil Jayawardena - Minister for International Trade - what it will mean for British farming.

During lockdown many of us showed a renewed interest in our food and where it comes from. For some farms which sell food direct, that meant more customers and the extra money has allowed them to invest more and diversify their products. We re-visit a farm in Wiltshire which saw a boom in customers last year to see if they've seen a lasting change. Dora's Dairy runs a cow-with-calf dairy herd and also sell pasture fed beef and free range eggs. 

And British carcasses are being sent abroad to be butchered to avoid Brexit red tape. The industry is worried the practise could continue due to a shortage of workers in UK plants, and the British Meat Processors Association is calling on the Government to re-think its policy on migrant workers. It says people from Eastern Europe make up 70% of workers in some plants and delays in them applying for, and being awarded, settled status could leave a hole in the workforce.  

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced in Bristol by Heather Simons

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