They also called for contingency plans to avoid a lack of migrant labour for harvest and processing roles. The EU agriculture commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowsk, criticised intensive pig and beef farming in the EU in a series of tweets. Meat processing companies and the soft fruits sector have both called for new workers to help plug labour shortfalls. Meanwhile, livestock markets have reported record prices across the UK, driven by fears they may be ordered to shut following the coronavirus outbreak. Isolation and bad weather are compounding the strain for farmers from what the National Farmers’ Union calls an “anti-meat agenda”.

Source: The Guardian March 24, 2020 11:37 UTC