Northern Irish border for agri-trade, rural GPs, beer research

Farming Today

• Episode: Northern Irish border for agri-trade, rural GPs, beer research
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:13:35
• Published: 2017-12-05 07:00

Could Northern Ireland get special status and be part of the customs union? The Northern Irish beef and sheep meat industry is worth £1.1bn. 70% of these sales last year were to the rest of the UK. We ask Viviane Gravey, lecturer in European Politics at Queen's University Belfast, how might agri-trade be affected in this scenario. People in rural areas who may already have suffered the closure of post offices, pubs and the local shop, may also find it is increasingly difficult to get an appointment with a GP. Jeremy Hunt recently announced a 'golden handshake' to tempt GPs to the countryside. But campaigners are now saying he should bring this forward as a pressurised winter looms. Scientists have isolated the gene which governs 'taste' in barley. That means when it's used to make beer, brewers will know what flavours the barley will bring to the drink. The five-year project also found that like grapes in wine, the flavour delivered by barley depends on where it was grown too. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.