06/04/24 Farming Today This Week: Import charges, wet weather, dogs

Farming Today - A podcast by BBC Radio 4

The Food and Drink Federation says new labelling rules will cost food companies million of pounds. From October dairy and meat products for sale in Great Britain will have to have "not for EU" on the packaging, just as products on sale in Northern Ireland have had since last year. The Government says the aim is to make sure that Northern Irish consumers have access to the same goods. The FDF says that's unnecessary could have "grave and unintended consequences" for the UK food and drink sector. We hear from the boss of a dairy company who says it will cost them at least £300,000 to make the change.According to new figures from the insurers NFU Mutual, more than £900,000 worth of farm animals were injured or killed by dogs last year in Wales alone. It's not a new problem. So what's the solution?At this time of year farmers should be putting their cattle out to graze, but in many parts of the UK it hasn't stopped raining long enough for the fields to dry out. Farmers trying to plant crops are also being delayed by the weather as it's too wet to get machinery onto the fields. We look at how much the wet weather is costing the industry.Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons