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Farming Today: 05/12/23 COP28 and agriculture; Vertical farming; Migrant worker wages; Farmers snowed under.

05/12/23 COP28 and agriculture; Vertical farming; Migrant worker wages; Farmers snowed under.

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 05/12/23 COP28 and agriculture; Vertical farming; Migrant worker wages; Farmers snowed under.

COP28 and reducing emissions from food and farming. Farmers in the snow.

Farming and food at COP28 and how vertical farming pioneers claim their systems could help reduce emissions.

All week we're discussing the issues raised around food production at the COP28 summit in Dubai. It's the first time farming and food production have been included in the summit's remit. The food system as a whole, including agriculture, accounts for nearly 30% of greenhouse gases globally. We speak to The Global Alliance for the Future of Food - a group of philanthropic institutions which has been campaigning to bring food production into the debate on climate change, for many years.

We also visit a vertical farm which says it can increase food production while limiting the impact on the environment. Fischer Farms grows layers of crops indoors under LED lighting at its £37 million plant in Norfolk. They say that on a four-acre footprint, they can produce the same quantity of rocket, watercress and basil as on 1000 acres out in the field. 

The Home Secretary has announced the salary needed to qualify for a skilled worker visa is being raised by a third, to £38,700. The decision will affect manager level agriculture-related jobs. There will be a review of 'shortage lists' - that's the list of jobs where there is a shortage of workers, which includes vets. The Migration Advisory Committee has been asked to review the occupations on the shortage list and a new immigration salary list will be created with a reduced number of occupations. The changes do not affect seasonal workers.

Farmers and rural communities have been rallying round to help people stuck in snow in the Lake District. We speak to one farmer who's helped to clear roads and move fallen trees and another who walked for hours to check on her cattle after diesel froze in her all-terrain vehicle.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney

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05/12/23 COP28 and agriculture; Vertical farming; Migrant worker wages; Farmers snowed under.

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