12/08/25 Dairy exports to Egypt, eating all the pig, Bronze Age cattle

The government's announced a trade deal with Egypt which it says could be worth £250 million in dairy exports ports over the next five years. As part of the deal, new regulations around the Halal certification of dairy produce going into Egypt will not be applied, avoiding what would have been a costly trade barrier. Finding a market for every part of an animal, not just the popular cuts like bacon and steak, is known as carcass balance and it’s something we’re talking about all this week. We visit Redhill Farm in Lincolnshire to see how they find out how they manage it.

The auroch is regarded as the wild ancestor of the modern day cattle we see on farms today. They were huge and used to roam Europe through to the Bronze age. Excavations in the Yorkshire Dales have unearthed what may be the last recorded aurochs in the UK. We speak to farmer Tom Lord who lives in the area and is a passionate archaeologist. He's often called on to advise potholers who find auroch bones when they're exploring underground caves.

Presenter = Caz Graham Producer = Rebecca Rooney